Exhibition sale: MasOlle – three generations of artistry

Viewing: February 21 –26th at Berzelii Park 1 in Stockholm.
Open: Mon–Fri 11–17, Sat–Sun 11–16. Free admission. Welcome!
Sat February 23rd at 14.00, open viewing together with Annika MasOlle and Susanne Martinelle.
All works included in the exhibition will be available for purchase at a set price.

MasOlle – one family, three generations, four artistries

An exhibition that stretches from the early 20th century’s portrait paintings via idyllic children's book illustrations and Christmas cards to powerful bronze sculptures and contemporary photographs. A story about how a family's artistry can take different forms of expression generation by generation. Read more about the exhibition's participating artists below:

Erik Helmer MasOlle (1884-1969) was a painter, graphic artist and designer who already knew at a young age that he would engage in the arts. Anders Zorn came to be a friend as well as a great source of inspiration both in style and motif, but Helmer later developed a personal characterizing portrait artistry that was highly appreciated both in Sweden and internationally. In parallel, he continued to paint imagery of the public life in Dalarna. With his elegant detail studies, painting techniques and stylish light reflections, he created works that are both very distinctive for his period of time as well as lasting over time. Helmer MasOlle also designed the first Volvo car in 1927, the ÖV 4. His design stills lives on in the well-known Volvo symbol.

Aina Stenberg MasOlle (1885-1975) married Helmer MasOlle in 1911. She illustrated a number of story books and produced thousands of motifs for Christmas- Easter- and New Year cards. Aina's personality is reflected in the spontaneity, fearlessness and curiosity found in her work. Her artistic procreations has been represented in most Swedish homes through "Scouternas adventskalender", of which she drew the first in 1934 and then continued annually until 1964. The publication continues today.

Annika MasOlle (b. 1938) is a sculptor and grandchild of Helmer and Aina. Her work has an abstract poetic expression and an appealing simplicity where nature’s organic shapes have always served as a great source of inspiration. At the beginning of her career, Annika worked in stoneware, but the circle concludes in the fact that for the past 15 years she has cast her sculptures in bronze in close collaboration with cast artist Johan Pettersson, whose grandfather cast Helemer MasOlle's sculptures.

Susanne Martinelle (born 1964) is a photographer as well as graphic designer and grand grandchild of Helmer and Aina. With the same precise technique in her pictures as her predecessors, she also strives to capture the intrinsic essence and mystery of things. The quiet, the vague but constantly present. An inner theme, the vague but constantly present, the game between the antipoles between leaving or staying.

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