Oskar Bergman was a Swedish painter and printmaker born in 1879 who worked in a realistic style using watercolor and gouache. In the 1940s, his landscapes of Stockholm caught public attention. Though self-taught, he traveled to Europe and was influenced by Renaissance artists like Dürer, Giotto, and Fra Angelico. Bergman painted landscapes, flowers, and scenes that highlighted the beauty of nature and changes between seasons. He had a sensitive, detailed style and was known for his use of color.

1. Oskar Bergman
1879-1963
A Swedish painter and printmaker of the
20th century.

2. In the 1940s he painted several urban landscapes seen from
Södermalm (a historic borough of Stockholm) that caught the
attention of the public. He used mainly watercolor and gouache,
in realistic works where he worked with fine detail and rich
colours. He also devoted himself to illustration and printmaking.
Oskar Bergman was born on October,
1879 in Saltsjöbaden, one of the
districts of Stockholm. He was self-
taught but attended the artistic
backgrounds of the time in his travels to
Europe, especially in France and Italy.

3. His main influences and models were Dürer, the Italian Renaissance (Fra
Angelico, Giotto) and the Japanese art. But though he may be associated with
naif art, he never followed any of the main movements at the time, like
impressionism or expressionism.

4. A Forest in Winter, 1904

5. Ängsblommor, Flowers in the meadows, 1911

6. Solbelyst Vinterlandskap, Sunlit Winter landscape, 1918

7. Oktobernatt, October night, 1923
- an infinitely sensitive grayscale

8. Landscape with birch trees, 1928 - a vividly coloured naïf.
Bergman made the birch a landmark symbol of Swedish nature.

9. Orchards in Southern France, 1929

10. Olivlund Toscana, Olive grove in
Tuscany
Oskar Bergman visited Verona and Florence, where he was fascinated by
Renaissance artists like Giotto and Fra Angelico.

11. Sommarlandskap från Ufvö,
Summer landscape from Ufvö, 1930
Bergman glorified the nature, the flowers and vegetation fertility, the
rythms of life, the shifts of the seasons.

12. Utsikt över havet, View over the sea, 1930

13. Skeppsholmen, 1936

14. Winter view from Skeppsholmen, 1936

15. Landscape after the rain, 1938

16. Stigbergsgatan (Saltsjöbaden), 1940

17. Solig Majdag, Sunny May, 1943
For Bergman, green was the most difficult colour to paint.

18. View of Torö, Södertörn, 1945

19. Vårlandskap med björkar,
vitsippor och röda stugor, 1948
Spring landscape with birches,
anemones and red cottages.

20. Motiv med träd, Motif with trees, a lithography

21. Småstadsgata i töväder, Small town street under the storm, 1946
Bergman's talent for landscape painting and his sensibility to the shifting of the
seasons is evident; he paints extreme detail with a fine brush.

22. The work has an intense color scale, and Bergman uses unexpected
compositional effects, like the melting snowdrivers of the foreground forming
an intricate pattern, further complicated by the mirrored two gentlemen who
spat the street forward.

23. Bergman's way of working with the light is really refined in this painting. The sky is not
reflected only in the watercushions, but also in the windows on either side of the street.
On the left side they become warm golden yellow, while on the right they get a cold,
clear blue shade.

24. Vildblommor, Wild flowers, 1934
The art of Oskar Bergman kept a line of persistence
and consistency of his own, which is truly out of time.

25. This presentation © Mario Ricca, 2017