Sven Birger Ljungberg (December 15, 1913 – July 28, 2010) was a Swedish visual artist whose work was created predominantly in the genres of

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techni ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, though his entire body of his work includes

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. He was born in

Ljungby, Sweden Ljungby () is the central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''köping'', or ''market town'', and did not become a municipality of its own when the fi ...

Biography

Small-town life in Sweden, specifically in

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...

, located in the central southern part of Sweden, serves as the major theme in his work. His hometown of

Ljungby Ljungby () is the central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''köping'', or ''market town'', and did not become a municipality of its own when the fi ...

, located in Småland, is specifically referenced throughout his work. His work is included in both the

Moderna museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, 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 a new branch in Malmö i ...

and

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manage ...

in Stockholm, as well as museums in

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total o ...

, and

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Munici ...

. The village of Ljungby has also erected a museum, Ljungbergmuseet, to house his works. In addition to his larger work, Ljungberg has also created illustrations for several books, including many books by

Ivar Lo-Johansson Ivar Lo-Johansson (23 February 1901 – 11 April 1990) was a Swedish writer of the proletarian school. His autobiographical 1979 memoir, ''Pubertet'' (''Puberty''), won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1979. Biography Born Ivar Johanss ...

. Ljungberg served as director of Konsthögskolan (

Royal University College of Fine Arts The Royal Institute of Art ( sv, Kungliga Konsthögskolan) is an institution in Stockholm, Sweden for higher education in art,Stockholm between 1972 and 1978 and subsequently as the school's rector from 1978 to 1981. It was within this timeframe, 1977–1981, that Ljungberg held the distinguished honor of creating the certificates for the winners of the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics. He was married to artist , with whom he had a son, , also an artist. Ljungberg died on July 28, 2010.

References

External links

Ljungby community website

Ljungbergmuseet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungberg, Sven 1913 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters 21st-century Swedish painters Swedish printmakers Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal 20th-century printmakers 20th-century Swedish male artists 21st-century Swedish male artists