Mårten Andersson
Covered by droit de suite
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A tight-rope dancer.
Signed Mårten A. Canvas 92 x 73 cm.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist in the 1960s.
Thence by descent to the current owner.
More information
Varje målning som Mårten Andersson skapar har en alldeles egen historia, han leker med olika tolkningar och perspektiv som gör betraktaren lite rådvill och osäker.
Kulturintendent Johan Kock på Bollnäs museum skriver i en utställningskatalog från 2004 "En nordisk Chagall har använts som epitet på Mårten. Delvis rättvisande men också begränsande för den breda motivkrets Mårten arbetar med. Själv kallar han sig gärna kolorist ..."
När man läser om Mårten Andersson och studerar hans konstnärsskap inser man att det är nog precis så det är, han har gått sin egen väg och man kan egentligen inte placera honom i något speciellt fack, något som vi ofta så gärna vill. Visst förnimmer man påverkan från andra kolorister såsom Bror Hjorth, Sven Erixson och Vera Nilsson. Mårten Andersson rör sig liksom Bror Hjorth gärna bland motiv som dans, musik och framförallt hembygden. Sven Erixson skildrade realistiskt sin omedelbara närhet, Mårten Andersson väver in sin hembygd i drömmar och fantasi. Mårten Andersson förstod tidigt att det var den hälsingska allmogekonsten, skrönorna och människorna i hans närhet som var viktigast och mest exotiskt och det har han sen varierat i all oändlighet.
Artist
Mårten Andersson was born in 1934 in Freluga, approximately 10 kilometres from Bollnäs in Hälsningland. His father was a spirited soul and he made a living as a carpenter, painter and itinerant worker. He preferred to paint moose in marshlands with beautiful sunsets , though he cound it hard to paint moose, so his only son had to pitch in early to help. The teachers at Sörängs school realised the young painter’s potential and saw to it that he attended a painting course with Bollnäs artists Per Englund and Fritiof Strandberg.
Upon turning eighteen, Andersson moved to Stockholm and started his studying decorative arts at Konstfack, where he remained for two years. During the summers Andersson worked with Jerk Werkmäster in Rättvik, a crucial influence who showed him the way to becoming a serious painter. After finishing school, Andersson and his friend Lennart Jirlow travelled to Italy and enrolled in the Free Academy in Florence. In Tuscany Andersson discovered the entire history of Western art and realized that the provincialism of Hälsingland and the legacy of folk painters like Lim-Johan and Haaken Gulleson were Sweden's answer to Italian masters like Botticelli and Donatello, among others.
Italy became a defining experience for Mårten Andersson, who returned to Freluga in Hälsingland and found that his subject matter blended seamlessly with his newfound Italian heritage. Each painting Mårten Andersson creates tells its own unique story; he plays with various interpretations and perspectives that leave the viewer somewhat perplexed and uncertain.