Bengt Berglund

"To look into the bowls was like explorations from the harsh and dry structure of the desert into the fresh oasis's surprising richness of colors."

Where in Swedish design history should Bengt Berglund be placed? He refuses to be labeled or confined to any specific category. His career began in 1960 when, after vocational school, evening school, and studies at Konstfack, he was recruited by Stig Lindberg to Gustavsberg, where he was given a studio without a potter's wheel. There, he rolled, kneaded, and pressed various patterns into his creations. The opening quote is from Gösta Arvidsson's comprehensive book on Gustavsberg and describes Berglund's distinctive bowls from the 1960s, which also brought his so-called cult stones with embossed quotes and subtly suggestive images on all six sides of the cubes. The bowls, cubes, and distinctive figures positioned him as a craftsman, and his exhibitions were mostly positively received by critics. However, he never produced large quantities of utility goods. A couple of dinnerware sets can be included in his CV, but, of course, not without a twist, in the form of the idiosyncratic handles on the Multum series. His ceramic production was characterized by peculiar, asymmetrical shapes that were far removed from the increasingly rationalized factory production. But in parallel with this, Berglund also worked with enamels to such an extent that the factory created a special – and very characteristic for the time – label for his items. And it is as an enamel graphic artist that we encounter him when Auktionshuset Kolonn now presents a theme with 27 works by Bengt Berglund. Here, we, as observers, are faced with his play with geometry, we get a restrained dose of flower power, and we are engulfed in strong colors executed in a technique that played a significant role in Gustavsberg's production for a couple of decades.

Welcome to discover Bengt Berglund!