Elsie Margareta Dahlberg-Sundberg (1916–2005) was a Swedish sculptor and medalist. She began studying art in 1937 and continued her education in Denmark, France and Italy in the early 1950s. On completing several public commissions, she was elected into the

Nya Idun Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". There was al ...

society in 1958. In 1968, she created the bronze sculpture of two boys, , for the

Malmberget Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish and Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabitants in 2010, reduced to 927 by December 2020. It is situate ...

town council. She went on to create other public works, smaller sculptural items and became something of a specialist in medals in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, she turned to wood carvings.

Biography

Born in Stockholm on 8 December 1916, Elsie Margareta Dahlberg was the daughter of the wholesaler Lars Fredrik Dahlberg and his wife Anna Sofia Margareta née Eriksson. She was one of the family's nine children. Born with

clubfoot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

, she underwent her first of several operations when she was four, eventually being able to walk and dance with special footwear. Keen to become an artist as a child, in 1937 she began taking evening classes at the

Tekniska Skolan Konstfack, or University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden. History Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the e ...

, paying her way by working for Sweden's statistical office. On visiting the school's sculpture class one day, she suddenly discovered she loved to work with clay. She gave up painting and her office job and, thanks to a small scholarship from the school, turned to sculpture. After interrupting her studies to work in a printing office and a bank, in early 1940 she began caring for an elderly couple. The woman's sister turned out to be a sculptor who was able to continue her training. After returning for a period to the Technical School, she began studying at the Academy in 1941. That November, she married Per Sundberg, who had been training to be a pilot but missed his exam while caring for his sick mother. He eventually died as a manic depressive in 1993. Their daughter Helena (born 1943) also became a sculptor. In 1951, they moved to

Lidingö Lidingö, also known in its definite form ''Lidingön'' and as ''Lidingölandet'', is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2010, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 31,561. It ...

. Thanks to her husband's job at

Bromma Airport Bromma Stockholm Airport (formerly Stockholm-Bromma Flygplats) is a Swedish domestic and minor international airport in Stockholm. It is located west-northwest of downtown Stockholm and is the closest to the city compared to the other commercial ...

, Elsie was able to get free tickets to study in Copenhagen, Paris, Nice and Rome. Thanks to a scholarship, in 1952 she made a trip to work at the

Villa San Michele The Villa San Michele was built about the end of the 19th century on the isle of Capri, Italy, by the Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe. Description The villa's gardens have panoramic views of the town of Capri and its harbour, the Sorr ...

in Capri. Dahlberg-Sundberg worked with a variety of materials, including terracotta, mosaic, wood, stone, bronze and plaster. She created many public works such as in Malmberget. From 1940, she presented her works in many exhibitions such as the one she arranged in 1941 together with in Stockholm's Brinken Gallery. In 1975, she was commissioned by the company AB Sporrong to create a series of medals under , depicting Swedish monarchs. She went on to design medals depicting Swedish writers as (1978) and one in honour of the birth of

Crown Princess Victoria Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expec ...

on 14 July 1977. In 1980, she created a medal commemorating

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the Fenno-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a frihe ...

's voyage through the

North West Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

. Her later sculptures include (1979) and (1987). Elsie Dahlberg died on 27 January 2005 and was buried in Solna's

Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Notabl ...

Biography

References

Further reading