Lena Birgitta Cronqvist Tunström (31 December 1938 – 29 July 2025) was a Swedish painter,

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

and sculptor. Considered to be one of Scandinavia's most prominent

Expressionists Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

, her biographically inspired works include self-portraits, some with her child, sometimes depicting the unpleasant features of life. She illustrated the books of her husband

Göran Tunström Göran Tunström (14 May 1937 in Borgvik, Grums Municipality – 5 February 2000 in Stockholm) was a Swedish author. He grew up in Sunne, Värmland County. Tunström's style is personal and intimate, and has a clear autobiographical tone. ...

and created

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

s for one of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

's plays. As a sculptor, she worked with glass and bronze. Her artworks have been widely exhibited and are in the collections of

Nationalmuseet The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

in Stockholm.

Life and career

Born in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

on 31 December 1938, Cronqvist studied at Stockholm's

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 ...

(1958–1959) and at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

(1959–1964). In 1964, she married the writer Göran Tunström who died in 2000. When she was 18, Cronqvist visited the Munch Room in Norway's National Gallery in Oslo.

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

's art left a lasting impression on her. The works she created in her "death series" are reminiscent of Munch's paintings. Cronqvist gained prominence in Sweden in the mid-1960s, creating not only paintings and graphics but textiles and sculptures. Her bold, intensive colourings contribute to her rather harsh expressionism, re-introducing a personalized approach in Swedish art. Depicting hospital scenes, Madonnas and girls playing morbid games, as well as many biographical portrayals, her work in the 1960s and 1970s frequently depicted scenes of anguish and illness. She illustrated the books of her husband Göran and created a series of lithographs for Strindberg's '' Ett Drömspel''. As a sculptor, she worked with glass and bronze. Her artworks have been widely exhibited and are in the collections of

and

in Stockholm. By 2024, Cronqvist had gone blind. She died on 29 July 2025, at the age of 86.

Awards

In 1994, Cronqvist was awarded the

Prince Eugen Medal The Prince Eugen Medal () is a medal conferred by the King of Sweden for "outstanding artistic achievement". The medal was established in 1945 by the then King of Sweden, Gustaf V, in connection with the eightieth birthday of his brother Prince ...

. She had a long relationship with her native Karlstad. Her bronze sculpture ''Hand i hand'' stands in its Museiparken. In 2012, the city awarded her its Fröding Stipendium.

References

External links

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Lena Cronqvist
''artnet.de''
Lena Cronqvist
(in Norwegian) ''Kunstnerforbundet'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronqvist, Lena 1938 births 2025 deaths People from Karlstad 20th-century Swedish painters 21st-century Swedish painters 21st-century Swedish women painters 20th-century Swedish sculptors 21st-century Swedish sculptors Swedish textile artists Swedish graphic artists 20th-century Swedish illustrators 21st-century Swedish illustrators Swedish women illustrators Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal 20th-century Swedish women painters 21st-century women painters 21st-century Swedish women sculptors