Ando Utagawa Hiroshige

From the The Bengt and Lilavati Häger Collection.

Lilavati and Professor Bengt Häger’s art collection was culturally significant and vast. It is clear that it was founded on the couples cross cultural experiences. Lilavati was a leading exponent of Indian dance and Bengt one of the most important European Impresarios of his day.
Multitalented and highly regarded Bengt Häger (1916-2011) worked inexhaustibly throughout his life to promote dance as an independent art form and field of research. He founded and managed the Swedish Dance Museum, the University Collage of Dance and Circus in Stockholm. He worked actively to bring international guest performances from world leading dance companies. Organized international tours for Swedish dance companies such as the Cullberg Ballet, which he managed 1967-1987. He was the first to bring Peking Opera out of China after the revolution and was a great friend of the renowned Peking Opera singer Mai Lanfang.
For many years Mr Häger was the closest friend and collaborator of the famous Art Collector Rolf the Maré (1888-1964), founder of Ballet Suedois in Paris. Bengt was also involved with UNESCO and founded the Centre International de Dance.
Lilavati Devi (1925-2002). First came to Sweden as a principal performer of the dance company set up by Ram Gopal (1912-2003), the Nijinsky of India. Bengt and Lilavati married in 1954. She became an important ambassador of Indian Dance in Scandinavia. They couple came to inhabit a circle that included some of the major international dancers, performers and choreographers of the last Century.

Ando Hiroshige var en japansk bildkonstnär född i Edo. Han började sin konstnärliga bana som lärling hos Utagawa Toyohiro. Efter avslutad utbildning tog Hiroshige sin lärares namn och började signera sina verk Utagawa Hiroshige. Hiroshige målade vardagskildringar och det sägs att han bestämde sig för att bli konstnär efter att ha sett den samtida konstnären Hokusais verk. Hiroshige förvandlade vardagliga landskap till intima, lyriska scenerier. Han är speciellt känd för sina vackra landskapsbilder i träsnittsteknik och har målat porträtt föreställande unga kvinnor och skådespelare. Hans mästerverk anses vara verket “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido”.