‘Even if a colour is beautiful in itself, it is the artist who gives it beauty through his work’ - Bengt Orup
This theme auction features works from the PROCC series, which is a collective term for the paintings Bengt Orup created towards the end of the 1980s and onwards. The paintings were executed in series and labeled PROCC, Produit Concret Construction, followed by the year (Thomas Millroth, ‘Bengt Orup - Måleri - glas’, 2002, p. 69).
Bengt Orup was one of the pioneers of post-war modernism in Sweden. As early as 1946, he experimented with a purely geometric world of form linked to the Art Concret movement. Surface was his means of expression and light his challenge. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he created a series of concrete paintings with a sophisticated interplay of geometric forms and strong contrasts. His work explored volume, surface, and depth, combined to create an intense sensory experience, sliding between the most distinct forms and chaos. These works - together with his later achievements - place Orup in the forefront of Nordic Concretists.
Online auction 6–15 September 2024
Viewing 10–13 September, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm
Collection 16–17 September, you can collect your item at Arsenalsgatan 2. 18–19 September the collection will be closed. From Friday, 20 September, you can collect your item at Västberga Allé 3.
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‘Even if a colour is beautiful in itself, it is the artist who gives it beauty through his work’ - Bengt Orup
This theme auction features works from the PROCC series, which is a collective term for the paintings Bengt Orup created towards the end of the 1980s and onwards. The paintings were executed in series and labeled PROCC, Produit Concret Construction, followed by the year (Thomas Millroth, ‘Bengt Orup - Måleri - glas’, 2002, p. 69).
Bengt Orup was one of the pioneers of post-war modernism in Sweden. As early as 1946, he experimented with a purely geometric world of form linked to the Art Concret movement. Surface was his means of expression and light his challenge. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he created a series of concrete paintings with a sophisticated interplay of geometric forms and strong contrasts. His work explored volume, surface, and depth, combined to create an intense sensory experience, sliding between the most distinct forms and chaos. These works - together with his later achievements - place Orup in the forefront of Nordic Concretists.
Online auction 6–15 September 2024
Viewing 10–13 September, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm
Collection 16–17 September, you can collect your item at Arsenalsgatan 2. 18–19 September the collection will be closed. From Friday, 20 September, you can collect your item at Västberga Allé 3.
Orup was not only a painter, he was also the artistic director of Johansfors Glasbruk from 1952-1962 and 1967-1973. From 1963 to 1966 he was employed at Hyllinge Glasbruk in Skåne. Glass dominated his work for periods. He designed everyday glass, many of which have become classics today, and unique glass pieces and sculptures. His career as a glass artist culminated in 1968 when he was invited to be a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in London.
Orup was born in Lindesberg in 1916, and lived and worked from 1941 until he died in 1996 in Domsten, Helsingborg. He received his training in 1933-38 at Otte Sköld's painting school in Stockholm and the Grande Chaumièr and Colarossi academies in Paris.
Bukowskis thanks Thomas Millroth for the information about the meaning of PROCC.