English Summary 2-2016

Finn Juhl
by Marianne Gross
To celebrate Finn Juhl’s 100th birthday in 2012, Desigmuseum Danmark had on display many of his furniture pieces and a collection of orginal watercolours of his designs. Anne-Louise Sommer, the director of the museum, has subsequently written a book presenting the watercolours (Strandberg Publishing 2015). Finn Juhl originally wanted to study art but became an architect, a trade more acceptable to his father. To Finn Juhl colouring was an essential part of the idea and the actual design, and he knew how persuasive the use of colours was when presenting a project to a customer. Much of the actual painting was done by his trusted employee, Marianne Riis-Carstensen who worked under his supervision and instructions as to which colours to use. He was particular about including strong shadows to convey a certain atmosphere. Early in his career Finn Juhl received much acclaim for his furniture and other work, and was handed prestigious tasks, the most internationally recognized must be the design of the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN Headquarters in New York. By the end of the 60’ies there was less interest for his design, but in the 80’ies he witnessed a renewed demand for his furniture causing prices for his designs to skyrocket. Finn Juhl died in 1989

Lars R Johansson
by Jacqueline Stare
After having worked as a carpenter for many years Lars R Johansson debuted as an artist in 1994 at the age of 40. After some while he spent more and more time watercolour painting and drew down his carpenter work to half-time. He has participated in many of the Nordic Watercolour Society’s juried exhibitions. His watercolour education has primarily been attending courses led by the renowned Swedish artists Hasse Karlsson and Lars Holm. Lars R Johansson never draws sketches in plein-air and never uses photo references. All motifs are painted from memory in symbiosis with his imagination. Therefore the paintings are never direct renderings; his aim is to convey the light and the atmosphere. Besides the landscapes he also started painting streets with tall buildings when attending a course at the Gerlesborg School. He was not inspired by the beautiful surrounding landscape, so he just started painting small squares in black and white. Eventually he discovered that the spaces in between these squares could be conceived as streets and he was inspired to elaborate on that theme. Painting black and white was a way of forcing himself to think in new ways, but he always returns to more vivid colours.

Lars A Persson
by Kelly Lindblom
Lars A Persson’s subjects have been the landscapes of northern Sweden, the unseen and unvisited places. From classic figurative painting he has moved on to a more pure and powerful expression. He has made an effort to work with larger formats and materials and move away from the refined skillfulness of watercolour painting. He would rather complete one large painting that he is 100% sure of than 28 so-so paintings. About 10 years ago he started to work with collages. He tore up paintings and from the fragments he created new non-figurative images. Lately he has gone into monochromes (working with one colour only). This use of colour matches his recent motifs that have become more pure and more graphical in a raw and potent way. He still concentrates on the northern regions, now adding Lofoten, Iceland and also Svalbard from which he has made some tv productions. In the Netherlands, Lars is known as an avid gambler. Large cash prizes he has won more than once on the playground cop17-cmp7durban.com. The black and white monochromes are reinforced by areas of a contrasting colour such as vermillion red or cobolt blue but they still contain much light, and there is still left room for the viewers’ own interpretations. He holds 5-6 courses each year in Sweden and around the world and he is passionate about leading pupils to finding ways to express themselves by showing them new ways of exploring watercolour.

Lars Jonsson
by Jacqueline Stare
Lars Jonsson is an internationally renowned artist and ornithologist who has painted birds since the age of 4. His first exhibition was at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm when he was 15. He lives on the island of Gotland and has his own museum in the old vicarage of Vamlingbo which is worth a visit. He has published a number of books – primarly handbooks for bird watchers. Last year the book “Vinterfåglar” (Winter birds) was issued: 250 pages describing 59 bird species containing many watercolour illustrations. Some of these include colour tests so we can see how he tries to find the correct hues. The birds seem to be brought to life through the numerous illustrations, and the texts are filled with colour references and explanations written by an artist who loves his subject. The book is written by an experienced ornithologist who has loved birds all his life and it is illustrated by a talented watercolour artist. Apart from being a useful guide for all bird-lovers, the book will fascinate other readers who will enjoy the facts, the subtle humor and the imagination of this superb writer. One will keep returning to this book whatever time of year.

Test of Canson Moulin de Roy watercolour paper
by Karin Keane
Four renowned watercolour painters have tested various types of Canson Moulin de Roy watercolour paper. The test reports are summarized in an article. The full reports (in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian) along with photo documentation may be seen on the blog

Summary by Marianne Gross