Christian Berg

Christian Berg began his artistic career in a naturalistic style, which changed around 1925 when he came into contact with the Halmstad Group and developed an interest in post-Cubism. Although he was skilled as a painter, his greatest success came in sculpture. His works are characterized by an engineer’s precision, and drawing on Cubism, he was inspired by ancient Egyptian and Greek sculpture, which he gave an architectural form infused with elements from nature. The sculpture in this auction, Water Figure II, was cast after 1960 in matte-polished and patinated bronze.

Sven Sandström writes in Christian Berg – Christian Berg - livslinjer och formtankar" about ”Vattenfigur II:
“More restrained, yet equally organic in its lines, is Water Figure. This time, the idea did not emerge from the usual model studies; this is revealed by the complex form and its evocative details. The artist transformed a concrete seaside scene: a woman climbing out of the water into a slender boat. One could simultaneously see the boat with its rounded keel and the woman both above and below the surface. Hence the varied structures of the sculpture. Seen from above, it twists almost like a screw, with three main directions when viewed from the side. The angle of the hips and legs turns rightward from the body’s direction, while the head rises from the folds of the chest to the left, like from a flower calyx, with the shell-like arms raised to form an outward-flaring collar that enhances its proud allure. The boat’s keel and prow reappear in the dark-patinated back and one side, while the double curve of the female hip returns on the left.”

A larger version of this sculpture, Vattenfigur, was created by Christian Berg in red granite and installed as a fountain sculpture at Västertull in Lund in 1963.