Erik Bertil Vallien (born Wallin, 17 January 1938) is a Swedish artist working mainly with sculpture, ceramics. glass art and design.

Early life

Vallien is the son of painter and preacher Nils Wallin (1911–1987) and Astrid Wallin (née Andersson) (1908–1992). He grew up in Sollentuna north of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in a family of seven children.

Career

Vallien worked as a decorator at the PUB department stora and as an apprentice painter at his fathers company, and at this time he decided he wanted to become an artist. He applied and got accepted into the art school

Konstfack Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden. History Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the eth ...

in 1956. After two years he decided to also study ceramics, where he graduated in 1961. He moved later to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and studied at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. This trip to America was possible after he received a scholarship from the Kungafonden and H. Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse. Vallien returned to Sweden in 1963. After returning to Sweden, Vallien got employment at

Boda glasbruk Boda Glasbruk is a village situated in Emmaboda Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden. It had 201 inhabitants in 2005. One of the glassworks of Kosta Boda Kosta Boda (), formerly known as Kosta Glasbruk (), is a Sweden, Swedish glassmaking comp ...

, and started working as a glass artist and designer for the companies 100-year anniversary, by 2012 he was still working within the trade but at

Kosta Boda Kosta Boda (), formerly known as Kosta Glasbruk (), is a Sweden, Swedish glassmaking company that is a well known manufacturer of art glass and tableware. It is located in Kosta, Sweden, which was named for the company. The surrounding region ha ...

glass factory. Vallien is an honorary doctor at

Växjö University Linnaeus University (LNU) () is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University a ...

. He had exhibitions of his work in Los Angeles in 1962 and 1963. At Bonniers in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Along with his wife Ulrica Hydman Vallien, he had exhibitions in Värnamo. He also appeared in the exhibition Young Americans which was shown at Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York in 1962.

Personal life

He was married to fellow artist

Ulrica Hydman Vallien Ulrica Margareta Hydman Vallien (24 March 1938 – 21 March 2018) was a Swedish artist who specialized in stained glass and decorative painting. In Sweden, she became best known for her vases with motifs of sinuous snakes, tulips and wolves. W ...

between 1963 and her death in 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallien, Bertil 1938 births 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish artists Artists from Stockholm Swedish glass artists Swedish male painters Living people 20th-century Swedish male artists