Ulf Trotzig, painter, illustrator and graphic artist born in Föllinge, Jämtland in 1925 and died in 2013 in Lund, was one of Sweden’s most established artists and became internationally known early on. “He belongs to the generation of artists who experienced the end of World War II and the opportunity to travel to Europe.”

“Ulf Trotzig paints like a wind blowing over the painting. The paintings are full of dynamic lines and swirling lines. The motives have just frozen in the movement. Expect the next image to continue this movement in a new phase. Sometimes it’s like a hurricane pulling over the screen. The wind picks up the trees and the water literally gushes forth. ” The motifs are mainly taken from Öland, where he and his wife, the author Birgitta Trotzig, have spent the summer since moving from France in 1969. “On an old farm in the middle of Stora Alvaret, which was constantly threatened by unruly vegetation. Bird species of various kinds passed over the desolate and barren landscape. ” Here, where he also had his studio, was the motif circle “In the early 1970s, he began to bring birds and floating bird-like bodies into his motif world. The bird-like figure in Ulf Trotzig’s painting and graphics has become his hallmark. He works in an abstract form with rhythmic organization of the image. You can never miss a “Trotzig”. During the winters in Lund, the summer paintings from Ekelunda were completed, and he worked more with graphics, in his studio outside the city. ”. He was of the opinion that it is the viewer who interprets the painting. ”

“Ulf Trotzig is internationally well represented, including at the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

Sources: Kristina Möller, Director and Exhibition Curator, Södertälje konsthall, quote from Sven Sandström’s “A changing color landscape” catalog Ulf Trotzig, Kristianstad Art Gallery 2002. Länstidningen 21 July 2017 text and photo Monika Nilsson Lysell. Compiled by Anneli Karlsson.