Carl Jürgen Torsson von Konow was a highly influential Swedish painter and printmaker, celebrated for his dynamic approach to graphic arts and his role in shaping modern printmaking in Sweden. Born in Östersund, von Konow demonstrated an early talent for art, which led him to study at the Högre Konstindustriella Skolan (now Konstfack) in Stockholm between 1931 and 1934. Encouraged by his tutors, he moved to Paris in 1935 to further his artistic education at the Académie Scandinave, a Swedish artists’ community based at Maison Watteau, which aimed to introduce Scandinavian artists to French art and expose them to a broader European audience. He later joined Stanley William Hayter’s pioneering printmaking studio, Atelier 17, where he was deeply influenced by Hayter’s innovative techniques and the studio’s association with leading artists of the era. From 1953 until his death he taught graphic techniques at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.
Motif with fishermen clearing nets, oil on panel.
From Surreal Streets to Mediterranean Light
Von Konow’s early work featured atmospheric Stockholm street scenes and interiors, often rendered in earthy tones and expressive lines. During travels in France, Spain and North Africa, his palette brightened and his compositions became more distilled. A subtle surrealist undercurrent runs through much of his work, especially in his prints, where dreamlike space and symbolism emerge.
“Summer evening, Strandvägen”
Exhibitions, De unga and Recognition
Von Konow was part of the artist group De unga, which introduced modernist and socially conscious art to postwar Sweden. He exhibited with them from the early 1940s, and also held solo shows at Gummesons konsthall and Grafiska sällskapet. Internationally, he participated in exhibitions in Paris, Tokyo and Ljubljana, where he received a prize at the international graphic triennial in 1957.
His works are represented in several institutions including Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, Waldemarsudde and public collections in Gothenburg, Norrköping and Copenhagen.
"Drying net", oil on panel, clubbed for 633 GBP at Stockholms Auktionsverk.
Teaching and Legacy
Von Konow was regarded as a skilled and generous teacher during his years at the Royal Institute of Art. He died in a traffic accident in 1959 at the age of 44, leaving behind a body of work that blends painterly sensibility with graphic precision.