The years at Isaac Grünewald's painting school in Stockholm in the mid-1940s served merely as a springboard for Lindström. After a study trip to Florence, where he was fascinated by older masters such as Giotto and Cimabue, he was already settled in Paris by 1948, where he encountered French modernism and was a student of, among others, André Lhote and Fernand Léger. He sought his expression through both abstract and non-figurative painting.

After the end of World War II, several new stylistic directions blossomed in Europe as a reaction to the culturally lean years of wartime. Bengt Lindström was inspired by the expressive painting of the CoBrA group, Jean Dubuffet's art brut, and Francis Bacon's psychological imagery. These artistic encounters became liberating for Bengt Lindström's own painting. Lindström settled in France among his artistic soulmates, and his art was appreciated by an international audience. However, the roots from the small isolated village of Storsjö Kapell in Norrland, with its mystical landscape of mountains, sparkling lakes, and deep forests, are ever-present in his motifs, which carry traces of nature lyricism. His father was very interested in the Sámi cultural heritage, and at just three days old, Bengt was earth-drawn through a witch hole in a forest hillside by his godfather, the Sámi king Kroik, to gain strength and power. As a child, Bengt accompanied Kroik on walks through forests and mountains while the Sámi king told him about Norrland legends and mysteries. The figures from these stories continued to live on in Lindström's own imagery.

Bengt Lindström is well-known to the Swedish public, but he is also a significant name internationally and has regularly exhibited in galleries and museums in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium. In addition to a large production of paintings, his graphic work with lithographs and etchings has been a major part of Bengt Lindström's creative output. He has completed a considerable number of public and monumental works both in Sweden and abroad. Lindström's artistic creation has also encompassed glass, ceramics, textiles, and sculpture.