ERLAND CULLBERG. figural composition, oil on canvas, signed.

Colorful motif with two figures, 160x118 cm.

Johan Erland Cullberg (5 April 1931 — 13 April 2012) was a Swedish artist, who lived in Sollentuna.

Erland Cullberg was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and Valand Academy of Fine Arts in Gothenburg, making his debut in 1961. Cullberg became known to a larger audience in the 80s. He got his big break at the Moderna museet in Stockholm in 1986 when he was named “artist of the year” in Sweden. Erland Cullberg's painting has been described as a colorful expressionism, with some influences from the Gothenburg colorists.

Erland Cullberg suffered from schizophrenia from a young age, and he has called his illness “a widespread leaping mental cold”. His art however is not to be regarded as any disease art, He was a classically schooled artist.

In 2008 Cullberg had a major exhibition at the Art Academy, where both old and new works were exhibited. In the same year, Erland's brother, Staffan Cullberg, published a book about his brother's artistry - The Colour and All the Glory. Cullberg is represented at, among others, Nationalmuseum and Moderna museet in Stockholm, Norrköping Art Museum, Västerås Konstmuseum, Örebro County Council.

He was the son of Bishop John Cullberg and brother of Carin Adler (née Cullberg), also an artist, Johan Cullberg and Staffan Cullberg.
Source: Wikipedia.