JAN TOM VAN DEN BERGEN. mixed media, signed.

image size, 60 x 50 cm The Dutch artist Jan van den Bergen lived and practiced his art in Fåglavik, Herrljunga during the years 1988 - 2008. His paintings are very special and according to what he himself said, he lived in his paintings. He described how it could happen as follows: Van den Bergen had his studio in a former general store in the small community of Fåglavik, built in 1876, and he lived there together with his wife Lia Schubert, who, among other things, started the Ballet Academies in Stockholm and Gothenburg, the cat Snöboll, the Tibetan temple dog Flofsen and the parrots Natasha and Rudy, who were allowed to fly freely in the house. Herrljunga municipality showed its appreciation to Jan van den Bergen by awarding him the Culture Award of the Year in 1995 with the justification that in his art he combined high technical skill with visionary ability to open new worlds that break established thought patterns.