Birgit Broms

Moderna museet, Stockholm, 30 Sept - 10 Dec 2006.

Birgit Broms was a Swedish artist who was born in 1924 and died 2008. Rhythm is imbedded into her artistry when she captures the motion of her speedy skiers. This scene is depicted so often that it has become synonymous with the artist herself. Her artistic output was modest, focusing consistently on a few themes: cityscapes, facades, archipelago boats, and ice skaters. She portrayed these subjects not merely to capture their likeness, but rather to solve formal and coloristic challenges. Simplification and abstraction were key elements in her approach, always emphasizing the role of light in highlighting her motifs. One cannot speak about Broms’ career without mentioning her portraits, a genre she did not begin until the end of the 1970s. Broms did not receive commissions, rather it was she herself that asked to paint a person if she found their face fascinating. The first person she asked was Erland Josephson, after which she received commissions from both the portrait collection at Manilla and the National Portrait Geller in Gripsholm. Birgit Broms was married to the artist Ragnar Sandberg between 1960 and 1972.