John Birger Jarl Carlstedt (12 July 1907 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

– 3 October 1975 in Helsinki) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

painter and a pioneer of

Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

in Finland. His painting style went through various changes, with influences from

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

and

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

Biography

Birger Carlstedt was born in Helsinki to businessman John Wilhelm Carlstedt and restaurateur Amanda Josefina Lindström. Carlstedt had an older sibling who died as a child and a younger brother, Knut Wilhelm. The two brothers are said to have been close. Knut was born in 1910 and died in the

Winter war The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

. The family was a part of the Swedish-speaking influential minority of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, but French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

were also spoken in the household. Birger Carlstedt also learned

in school. The family was affluent, and Birger grew up in a household with valets. After John passed in 1913, Amanda continued to acquire and run restaurants in Helsinki until 1938. Birger Carlstedt studied at the School of the Fine Arts Association of Finland and the Central School of Applied Arts in

. He also studied in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. With the support of rich parents, Carlstedt was able to travel around Europe and visit the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

and

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...

groups to study their visual arts and architecture. Amanda Carlstedt was her son's paton for much of his life. As a student, Carlstedt already belonged to the relatively small group of artists who were constantly open to new influences and experimented with new forms of expression. He was influenced by

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and his style became increasingly

Non-figurative Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19t ...

. While working as a painter after his studies, he also had his own interior design company. His most notable interior design was the Le Chat Doré cafe in Helsinki (1929), which was Parisian in style, with references to

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

. The café was run by Carlstedt's mother Amanda. Carlstedt drew inspiration from the café L’ Aubette in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, which was styled by

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nelly ...

, Jean (Hans) Arp and

Sophie Taeuber-Arp Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber-Arp (; 19 January 1889 – 13 January 1943) was a Swiss artist, painter, sculptor, textile designer, furniture and interior designer, architect, and dancer. Born in 1889 in Davos, and raised in Trogen, Switzerlan ...

in 1926–1928. At that time this type of interior design was not understood or appreciated in Finland, so when the lease of the café was up in 1933, the interior was destroyed. Birger Carlstedt's first major exhibition was in the

Kunsthalle Helsinki Kunsthalle Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin Taidehalli, sv, Helsingfors Konsthall) is a non-profit exhibition space founded by various Finnish artist and art associations in 1928. Presenting annually 5–7 major exhibitions and special events, the main fo ...

in 1932. The exhibition was also subject to harsh criticism, because international abstract art was not appreciated. Carlstedt was married three times: first to Ingegärd Jacquette af Forselles in 1932; then to Inga Hjördis Beatrice Roos in 1941 and finally to the pianist

France Ellegaard France Marguerite Ellegaard (10 October 1913 – 17 April 1999) was a Finnish pianist and music educator, born in France to Danish parents. She was considered one of the 20th century's great concert pianists. The daughter of cyclist Thorvald E ...

in 1949. In 2019-20 a major retrospective exhibition of Carlstedt's works was held in the

Amos Rex Amos Rex is an art museum named after publisher and arts patron Amos Anderson located in Lasipalatsi, Mannerheimintie, Helsinki, Finland. It opened in 2018 and rapidly reached international popularity, attracting more than 10,000 visitors in a ma ...

Museum in Helsinki. As part of the exhibition, the museum reconstructed part of the interior of the Le Chat Doré cafe of 1929.

References

External links

* 1907 births 1975 deaths Artists from Helsinki 20th-century Finnish painters {{finland-artist-stub