ROLAND SVENSSON (1910-2003), Anchor at berth, signed and dated Roland S. -54, drawing, charcoal on paper.

approx. 39x31 cm.

PROVENANCE:
Jan Wigren's collection

HISTORIAN:
Crafoord Stockholm is now able to present Jan Wigren's unusually extensive and high-quality collection of drawings, original paintings and graphics by the great archipelagic portraitist Roland Svensson.
For many, sunny days in the Stockholm archipelago are the very definition of summer vacation.
For others, the archipelago is even the whole air of life.
The artist Roland Svensson, who was also widely published as an illustrator and writer, harbored an obvious love for places and ways of life a little further away, further out and marked by the conditions of the sea. He was a man of the islands. Travelled to the Hebrides, the Cape Mountains, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and the volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha. Above all, during more than 60 years of artistry, he became one of our most prominent and portrayals of the outer sea band in the Stockholm archipelago. Countless expeditions began from the studio during the summer stay at Stora Tornö, across the strait at Långvik on Möja.
Roland Svensson cared more about authenticity and integrity than about artistic trends. He portrayed the everyday life of the archipelago in works grounded in reality with a sense of nature, people and wildlife. That insight and realism, together with a very extensive production, not least of graphics, helped to make him popular. “Few artists have lived so stubbornly in their environment as I have. After 60 years, I know every stone both above and below the surface of the water,” he summed up himself.
Jan Wigren also had a stubborn relationship with Roland Svensson's art. Over the years, he became one of the country's foremost documentarians and collectors.
Wigren and Svensson met when Wigren was working at Sveriges Television. The first meeting led to a number of further programmes about and with Roland Svensson and to a long and strong friendship. Jan Wigren helped Roland Svensson to catalogue and make lists of all the art, which had hitherto been limited in order. Later he was also a driving force behind the formation of Sällskapet Roland Svensson Vänner and Roland Svensson Museet på Möja.
- Roland gave sheet number 1 of the very last lithograph he made to Janne, says Roland Svensson's son Torbjörn. It is called “Utskär Gilløya”. I got sheet number 2.
Per Stjernholm was another of Jan Wigren's close friends. They had a specific interest in art in common and for many years explored the island world of Stockholm together with Roland Svensson's motifs as a guiding light. At one point in Stora Nassa they thought they had found the exact angle for one of the works.
- Then Janne lifted onto a rock where we were sitting, says Per Stjernholm. Beneath the stone it said “Roland S”.
It is with great joy and pride that we present this very special collection built on genuine friendship and love for the archipelago.