Gleiwitz
Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the KÅ‚odnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the re ...
, Silesia; died 26 September 2009 in Stockholm) was a Swedish art historian, painter, printmaker, book illustrator and museum curator.
Life
Von Holten came to Sweden in 1937 with his family who left Nazi Germany. After graduating, he studied art history. During a trip to Paris in 1953 he had contacts who gave him the mandate on the artist
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...
. He traveled for many years between Stockholm and Paris, and he became a link between French and Swedish surrealists. He became a member of the
Surrealist
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 ...
. While he spent time in Stockholm with artists such as
Eric Grate
Eric Grate (August 14, 1896 – August 3, 1983) was a Swedish sculptor, painter and graphics artist.
Education
Eric Grate studied at the Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington Hous ...
,
Endre Nemes
Endre Nemes (November 10, 1909 – September 22, 1985; born with the family name Nágel) was a Hungarian-Slovako-Czecho-Swedish Surrealist artist who had a background in Lyrical Abstraction.Gösta Kriland,
Öyvind Fahlström
Öyvind Axel Christian Fahlström (December 28, 1928 – November 9, 1976) was a Swedish multimedia artist.
Biography
Fahlström was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the only child to Frithjof Fahlström and Karin Fahlström. In July 1939 he was s ...
and Thea Ekström.
In 1965 he defended his thesis on Gustave Moreau and in 1969 he published his most famous book, ''Surrealism in Swedish art'', regarded as a standard work. The same year, he became Associate Professor in Art History in Stockholm. He was in a sequence Senior Curator at the National Exhibition (1968–82), National Museum (1982–97) and the Modern Art Museum (1998–2000). Between 1985–88 he was Director of the Swedish Institute in Paris. As an artist, he made his debut in 1960 in Gothenburg and Lund. Surrealism was his theme, both in his art practice as in his art, scientific works. In 2008 he had a major retrospective exhibition at
Malmö Art Museum
Founded in , the Malmö Art Museum is one of the leading art museums in Scandinavia. The museum building, built in , is located in the Malmö Castle complex in Malmö, Scania, in southern Sweden. The museum is governed by the City of Malmö.
...
.
After his death, von Holten's art collection was donated to the Art Academy, and proceeds from sales became the nucleus for the Ragnar von Holten Memorial Fund, which would award scholarships to promising artists.Ragnar von Holten National Library of Sweden, 14 April 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2014.