Gudrun Eduards (1935-2022) was schooled in drawing and sculpture at Slöjdföreningens skola in Gothenburg in 1951 and in sculpture at the Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, USA, from 1952 to 1955. Eduards then moved to Italy to study for the sculptor Marino Marini at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. She travelled to Guatemala and Mexico before returning to Sweden in 1964. Gudrun Eduards is represented by several public works, mainly in the city of Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast. These include 'Figures in Wind' in concrete and metal canvas from 1971, 'Skridskoseglaren' in painted concrete and the sculpture 'Vingslag' in bronze from 1994. In Stockholm there is the 'Finland Monument' in Värtahamnen, executed in cast iron, granite and concrete during 1984-1986.
Gudrun Eduards has said that her love of dance is an unhappy love, and that she is disappointed by the transience of movement. But movement is found in her sculptures. The wind catches the tattered clothes of the scarecrows, the lively young dancer raises her arms to the sky, colossal sumo wrestlers and ladies on foot and on bicycles in "Fat People" move with ease and elegance.
Photo: Gudrun Eduards in Milan, 1950s, Agenzia Fotografica Terreni, Milan.