BURT OLSSON (1964-2024). Illuminated trees - dusk, signed Burt Olsson, oil, canvas on panel.

Frame dimensions approx. 16.5 x 14.5 cm.
Image dimensions approx. 14 x 11.5 cm.

BURT OLSSON
1964—2024

The current collection of nature painter Burt Olsson represents the last works that the artist executed before he passed away from cancer at only 60 years old in 2024. These small impressions in oil reflect the artist's great love for and wonder at the inherent power of nature - both as a source of inspiration for an artist's soul and a source of recovery and respite for modern man.

Having had a studio in central Uppsala for many years, in his last years Burt Olsson came to work and live in the rural idyll Ulva, just outside Uppsala, where he was surrounded by the nature that he so vividly captured in his painting.

When Burt Olsson began to become established as an artist in the early 1990s, he was still active as an elite footballer, a somewhat unusual combination that received great attention in the press. When his football career had to be shelved due to injuries, he was able to invest wholeheartedly in art. For a period he painted and exhibited with another young naturalist working in Uppsala, the now esteemed bird painter Jonas Nilsson. The two talents drew inspiration from each other, although their medium was different - with Burt Olsson choosing the oil paint and Jonas Nilsson mainly devoted himself to watercolour painting. Burt Olsson came to have a large number of exhibitions in Uppsala. He was a distinguished artistic soul, passionate about his freedom and untethered. To this extent, he represented something of an artist's image and he became a well-known figure in the city, where he could often be seen sitting in one of the city's outdoor cafes, engaged in conversations about art and the great riddles of life.

Burt Olsson was born in Gothenburg in 1964. He began drawing and painting at a young age and showed a great talent early on. With a stepfather who was an international art dealer, he grew up in an environment marked by quality art and the countless museum visits around Europe became a further source of inspiration for the aspiring artist. Thanks to this upbringing, he was given a great opportunity to learn from an early age what constitutes quality in art, an invaluable basis for a future creation of his own.

In his painting Burt Olsson was based on a classical tradition, where he captured impressions of nature that never ceased to fascinate him in an impressionistic way. With a light brushstroke, he conveyed the small nuances of nature that make the surrounding landscape constantly offer new motifs - in the changing weather, the day and the seasons. The fleeting experiences were transformed into lasting moods in an oil painting characterized by an airy and light manner.