Exposition Art Blog: Max Walter Svanberg

Max Walter Svanberg

Max Walter Svanberg (February 21, 1912 – May 28, 1994) was a Swedish surrealist painter, illustrator, and designer. His most prevalent motifs were of women's bodies merged with elements of flora and fauna.
Born in Malmö, Sweden, Svanberg founded the Swedish artist group Imaginisterna in 1948, but left them soon after. In 1950, he published an album of lithographs. In 1953, he was invited to join a surrealist group in Paris led by André Breton. Svanberg exhibited at the Galerie de l’Etoile Scellee in 1955. In 1958, he illustrated an edition of Arthur Rimbaud’s Illuminations.Wikipedia








 "Max is early in his life inspired by the female body, already as a 10 year old he makes sculptures in wood of women torsos.
Starts to work on technical school in the decoration department in 1929. Starts on Art School in 1931.
Exhibits his first pieces of art in 1935, some flower stilleben, but with a little touch of sureallism. In 1942 he starts the group Minotaur together with a.o. Hulten and Osterlin. In 1945 Jorn visits Malmoe, as he after the war is eager to seek for artists and inspiration after 5 years in the occupied Denmark, he meets Minotaur, and the artists in these circles.
In 1946 Svanberg creates the expression 'Imaginism' and most of the group Minotaur follows this direction.
In 1949 Jorn talks to Imaginisterne about Cobra, and they find that there are a lot of common interests, so Imaginisterne becomes the Swedish branch of Cobra, as Host was the Danish craddle for Cobra.
Svanberg participates in a few exhibitions, but gets after Cobra more and more inspired by the surrealism, which this lithograph shows, he makes a litograph for Cobra nr. 5. shown below.
During the 50's and 60's his pictures get more surrealistic, and very erotic, illustrated among others in the exhibition in Malmoe Kunsthal in the summer of 1979, the catalog is very fine documentation on Svanberg. "( www.cobra.li )







No comments: