artist: Jürgen von Konow (Swedish 1915-1959)
medium: oil on panel
dimensions: 39 x 28 1/2 cm framed size (approx)
signed
circa late 1940s/early 1950s
presented in its original frame
AU $840 (approx US $555 / 515 EUROS / 80,000 yen / 440 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist bio
Jürgen von Konow was born in Östersund in 1915. He was a Swedish painter and graphic artist.
Konow studied at the Högre konstindustriella skolan (Higher Art Industrial School) in Stockholm between 1930-34. It was there that one of his teachers advised him to move to Paris. Taking their advice he moved to Paris and studied at the Académie Scandinave. The Académie was founded by Lena Börjeson in 1926 and was part of Maison Watteau. It was set up to encourage Scandinavian students to learn under French teachers and expose them to a larger audience in Europe. After 1935 he continued his studies at Marcel Gromaire’s studio and worked at Stanley William Hayter's graphic studio Atelier Dix-September in Paris. He returned to Sweden in 1937 and later studied graphic arts at the Konsthögskolan (School of Art) in Stockholm in 1946.
Hayter and his printing techniques were a strong influence on Konow, and his book ‘A New Way of Gravure’ (1949) inspired Konow to wrote his own handbook ‘Om grafik: Historia och teknik’ (About Graphics: History and Technology) that was published in Sweden in 1958. Konow went on to teach was at the Konstakademien (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Stockholm from 1953. His book was an important contribution to the teaching of graphic arts in Sweden. Some of Konow’s graphics were used on postage stamps. He also won international recognition in 1958, when he received one of the grand prizes at the graphic exhibition in Ljubljana.
Von Konow exhibited extensively throughout his career. His first He first exhibition was in Stockholm in 1938 at Galleri Gummesons. Examples of Konow’s work are held in many public collections including the National Museum in Stockholm, Moderna Museet and Waldemarsudde in Stockholm, Vänersborg Museum, Gothenburg Art Museum, Stockholm City Museum , Norrköping Art Museum , Linköping Museum , Oslo National Gallery , KODE: Bergen Art Museum, Ateneumin Helsinki and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Konow died tragically on June 10, 1959 in a car accident in Växjö, aged just 44.