Bukowskis are happy to present about 60 works from the artists' Rune Jansson (1918-2014) and Eddie Figge (1904-2003) in this theme auction “Eddie Figge and Rune Jansson – an artist couple”.
Eddie Figge and Rune Jansson were married between 1944–1965, which were formative years for them. The time after the war, informal painting sprung out from abstract expressionism. The informal painting sought itself away from the traditional and formal rules of composition, and the motifs would focus on the experience the artwork created in the viewer. Eddie Figge and Rine Jansson like to be associated with this art specialisation which the couple was heavily influenced by during their time together.
Eddie Figge met Roland Kempe in Paris in the 1930s, who praised her artistic eye and encouraged her to start painting. Back in Stockholm, she applied to Otte Skölds painting school, as advised by Thora Dardel, where she was accepted. When she left Skölds school in 1942 to pursue a career as an independent artist, Figge was 38 years old, and it would be almost another 20 years before Ulf Linde discovered her. Linde then initiated the exhibition at Galerie Blanche in 1961 that would later be considered Eddie Figges breakthrough.
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Bukowskis are happy to present about 60 works from the artists' Rune Jansson (1918-2014) and Eddie Figge (1904-2003) in this theme auction “Eddie Figge and Rune Jansson – an artist couple”.
Eddie Figge and Rune Jansson were married between 1944–1965, which were formative years for them. The time after the war, informal painting sprung out from abstract expressionism. The informal painting sought itself away from the traditional and formal rules of composition, and the motifs would focus on the experience the artwork created in the viewer. Eddie Figge and Rine Jansson like to be associated with this art specialisation which the couple was heavily influenced by during their time together.
Eddie Figge met Roland Kempe in Paris in the 1930s, who praised her artistic eye and encouraged her to start painting. Back in Stockholm, she applied to Otte Skölds painting school, as advised by Thora Dardel, where she was accepted. When she left Skölds school in 1942 to pursue a career as an independent artist, Figge was 38 years old, and it would be almost another 20 years before Ulf Linde discovered her. Linde then initiated the exhibition at Galerie Blanche in 1961 that would later be considered Eddie Figges breakthrough.
During the 1960s, Figges painting took a different turn as she became very interested in the growing focus on space research. The so-called “space race” inspired ideas that kept Figge busy during this time. The ideas focused on the human ability to embrace and conquer the unknown. These philosophical thoughts influenced her painting for two decades, and Figge started to work more with compositions inspired by a fleeting spaciousness and the two-dimensional. In the pictures that touch on the space theme in different ways, the sheet metal takes on a more prominent role. Figges inspiration comes from South American cultures as well as thoughts from ancient Greece. The play with mirroring that catches the surrounding light and colours in the room is often present in the form of inserted or loosely hanging and sometimes crumpled metal sheets. The fleeting painting is contrasted by the presence of the metal, which causes the colours to bend in the imaginary room of the picture and then the sheet protrudes and creates a two-dimensional image. In 1922 Figge was exhibited as the first living artist at the National Museum in Stockholm. Figges art is represented at the Modern Museeum, Stockholm; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Partis; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Göteborgs Konstmuseum and Skissernas Museum, Lund.
In 2003 Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm showed a large solo exhibition with Figges art before she passed away later that autumn.
Rune Jansson
Few Swedish painters have been part of the international avant-garde, and Rune Jansson was one of the few who simply cannot be placed within any of last century's art-isms. He was born on Blidö 1918, where his parents owned a farm, and he was heavily influenced by the archipelago that was always present in his consciousness. Jansson developed an interest in drawing and painting early on. After elementary school and a few years working at the farm with his father, he decided to become an artist, and in 1914 he enrolled at Otto Skölds painting school. Later he studied at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm. He left the academy in 1944 and continued to paint by himself, and went on study trips in Europe with Eddie Figge. In Paris, they met Hans Hartung, who became Jansson's friend and opened his eyes to the informal art.
In the late 1940s and for the more significant part of the 50s, Jansson painted in a style that is usually referred to as informal, spontaneous or tachistic. Later he reduced his painting to an almost minimalistic representation of his beloved archipelago. Colour was deeply rooted in Jansson, and even during the 2000s, he painted basic chords, which were amplified by just the right contrasting patch of purple, green or whatever was needed to create balance and nerve in the paintings.
Rune Jansson is represented at the following museums; the National museum and the Modern museum, Stockholm; Göteborgs Konstmuseum; Malmö Museum, Norrköpings konstmuseum; the National Gallery, Oslo; Ateneum, Helsinki; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and Sonja Heine-Nils Onstad museum, Oslo.
Auction online 3−12 September
Viewing 7–10 September, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm
Open Tuesday – Friday 11 am – 5 pm
