Nature painter Burt Olsson (1964-2024)

The current collection of works by nature painter Burt Olsson represents the very last paintings he completed before passing away from cancer in 2024, at only 60 years of age. These small oil impressions reflect the artist’s profound love of and reverence for nature’s inherent power – both as an endless source of inspiration for the artistic soul and as a place of recovery and respite for modern life.
After many years with a studio in central Uppsala, Olsson spent his final years living and working in the rural idyll of Ulva, just outside the city, surrounded by the very landscapes he so sensitively captured in his painting.
When Burt Olsson began to establish himself as an artist in the early 1990s, he was still an active elite football player – an unusual combination that attracted considerable media attention. When injuries forced him to leave football behind, he was finally able to devote himself entirely to art. During this period, he painted and exhibited together with another young Uppsala-based nature artist, today the highly regarded bird painter Jonas Nilsson. The two drew inspiration from one another, though their mediums differed – Olsson working in oils, Nilsson in watercolours. Over the years, Olsson held numerous exhibitions in Uppsala. He was an uncompromising artistic spirit, fiercely protective of his independence, and came to embody the very image of the free artist. He became a well-known figure in the city, often seen at outdoor cafés engaged in deep conversations about art and the mysteries of life.
Burt Olsson was born in Gothenburg in 1964. He began drawing and painting at an early age, quickly displaying remarkable talent. With a stepfather who was an international art dealer, he grew up in an environment steeped in quality art, and countless museum visits across Europe provided additional inspiration. This upbringing gave him a rare opportunity to understand, from an early age, what truly constitutes quality in art – an invaluable foundation for his own creative practice.
Olsson’s painting drew from a classical tradition, capturing fleeting impressions of the natural world with a distinctly impressionistic touch. With a light hand, he conveyed subtle nuances in nature, revealing how the shifting weather, times of day, and changing seasons constantly offered new motifs. These transient experiences were transformed into enduring moods in oils characterised by an airy and delicate style.