Torsten Esbjörnsson

Torsten Esbjörnsson is a prominent Swedish representative of concrete art. He was born in 1925 in Örum, on Österlen, and was expected to take over the family farm. However, his desire to express himself became stronger, and when he discovered painting, it became a turning point in his life. He gained admission to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and later, he studied at the Danish artist Mogens Andersen's oppositional art school in Copenhagen.

In 1960, Torsten Esbjörnsson traveled to Paris, where he was strongly influenced by concrete art. Even though he never painted in a naturalistic style, his sources of inspiration remained close to nature. During his time in Paris, he began working with an optical non-figurative visual language, with the square and the circle as fundamental elements. Esbjörnsson drew significant inspiration from Piet Mondrian and Vasily Kandinsky through their well-attended exhibitions, lectures, and discussion evenings in Paris. However, the artist who made the deepest impression during his time in Paris was Victor Vasarely.

In New Mexico, USA, he became fascinated by the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived there before her death. The colors of New Mexico also found their way into his paintings. Esbjörnsson's paintings are characterized by strong colors and winding geometric compositions that entice the viewer to step into each individual painting.

In 1979, Torsten Esbjörnsson received the cultural prize of the municipality of Ystad, the same award that Ola Billgren received the year before. He has had several museum exhibitions and is also part of several important art collections.