Oscar Antonsson

Barros Eriksson, Jonas, Ystad-metall: 1919-1969, Bokförlaget Arena, Malmö, 2020, p. 59.

Oscar Arvid Antonsson, a Swedish art historian, museum curator and artist, was born 31st of January in 1898 in Lund and died 23rd of February 1960.
Oscar Antonsson studied in Lund where he gained recognition and appreciation in student circles for his drawings published in various student publications. In 1923, Antonsson earned his licentiate degree, after which his artistic production began in earnest. His versatile artistic talents developed through study trips to Italy, France, Holland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the USA, and Greece. His stay in the Mediterranean particularly inspired him to create numerous drawings with classical motifs and stylistic elements. He also engaged in other artistic activities, training as a sculptor, mainly in Italy, and producing several works in bronze and marble. Additionally, he worked as a lithographer, etcher, and silhouette cutter.
In 1925 Antonsson held a notable exhibition in Lund, where he exhibited not only drawings and sculptures but also graphics and silhouettes. A few years later, he expanded his repertoire with an exhibition of pewter and brass pieces. Antonsson designed objects in bronze and pewter, initially for Ystad Metallindustri and later for AB Athena in Ystad, which he co-founded in 1936.
In 1930, Antonsson joined the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm as an assistant curator. He defended his doctoral dissertation "The Praxiteles marble group in Olympia" at Uppsala in 1937. Following this, he was appointed second curator in 1944 and curator in 1946 at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Antonsson’s exciting combination of theory and practice is commented on in the "Svenskt Konstnärslexikon" (Swedish Artists' Lexicon), Allhems förlag, 1952: "In his versatile artistic production, A. demonstrates his great familiarity with art history, especially with the masters of the 1400s and 1500s. Without speaking of conscious imitation, one can note elements of Dürer and Holbein in his drawings and graphic works. With this stylistic-historical virtuosity, he combines a seasoned confidence in drawing, no matter the artistic field he ventures into. Often, his drawings and sculptures are characterized by a broad, humorously folkloric style."
Amongst Antonsson’s scuptural works is “Bäckahästen” in Ystad, a bonze sculpture part of a fountain group (1928), "Morgon" in Karlskoga (1940), a monumental granite relief, and a statue in Sandviken standing over three meters tall, "Staffan," with influences from the young Nathan Söderblom.
Antonsson, who is represeted in the National Museum and Malmö Museum, has has separate exhibitions in Malmö and Stockholm in 1928 and has also exhibited in Florence in 1927 and Rome in 1928. Additionally, Antonsson was one of Sweden’s foremost experts on Sergal and published “Sergels ungdom och Romtid" in 1942.