From 1986 to 1989 he served as Director of Malmö Konsthall before being appointed Director of the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. During this period (1989–1995), plans were developed for the new museum building on Skeppsholmen, and from 1994 until his departure, operations were housed in temporary premises in the former tram depots in Vasastan. As museum director, he organised exhibitions featuring, among others, Per Kirkeby, Lee Jaffe, Kiki Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe and Bill Viola. The final exhibition in the museum’s old premises was a major presentation of the German painter Gerhard Richter. In 1995, Björn Springfeldt was appointed Cultural Counsellor at the Swedish Embassy in Germany, then located in Bonn and later in Berlin, where he greatly enjoyed his time and remained for five years.

Following his time in Germany, Springfeldt worked as a consultant on artistic commissions in public spaces for Värmdö Municipality, including involvement in the new municipal building inaugurated in 2005. He later became Chair of the Värmdö Council for the Protection of Aesthetic Values.

Between 2008 and 2017, he served as Chair of the fundraising foundation for the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Skärhamn, Tjörn, and was also a member of the board of the Amos Anderson Art Museum in Helsinki. His professional career concluded with his role as Chair of the Swedish General Art Association (SAK) from 2015 to 2017.

Björn Springfeldt’s deep commitment to contemporary art has influenced both artists and institutions over the years. The general public, too, has benefited from his keen eye and open mind through the public artworks he helped to initiate.

Throughout his life, Springfeldt continued to “follow in the footsteps of artists”, visiting their studios as well as student studios at art schools such as Gerlesborg in Bohuslän and Pernby’s School of Painting in Stockholm. Bukowskis is delighted to have been entrusted with the sale of parts of Björn Springfeldt’s private art collection.

Growing up in Västerås, at the age of 17 I discovered that there were people who did not sell their time to industry, but instead set themselves a calling and were prepared to pay for that choice with social marginalisation and poor finances—while at the same time working harder than most.

These were the artists, and ever since they have been my existential heroes. What society now needs more than ever is creativity and a sense of responsibility—qualities found in abundance within the arts. When I studied art history in Lund, I was drawn in 1968 to begin working at the Moderna Museet. There, working alongside the legendary museum director Pontus Hultén, as well as Carlo Derkert and Ulf Linde, became my true university. Their complete solidarity with artists, their curiosity, openness to the contemporary world, and belief that art can matter to anyone left a lasting impression on me and gave my life direction.

My first assignment from Pontus was to seek out art from my own generation for acquisition to the collections. This led to works such as John-E Franzén’s Hells Angels, Jan Håfström’s The Forest, and Peter Tillberg’s Will You Be Profitable, My Dear Friend? entering the collection.

Despite limited acquisition funds, the Moderna Museet succeeded in building a collection of world-class standing—by trusting instinct, by not waiting for the art world to canonise masters, and by acquiring works early. When I left the Moderna Museet in 1996, I was free to begin building my own collection, and I continue to turn to young artists—partly because I can afford it, and partly because it is so intensely rewarding to follow the development of an artistic practice.

When studying art history, we were taught that artistic expression dates back around 35,000 years—the time since the remarkable paintings of Lascaux and Altamira were created. A few years ago, however, a fossilised lump of ochre was discovered in a cave—a mineral used exclusively for painting—and new analytical methods dated it to at least 100,000 years old.

This means that artistic expression is deeply embedded in human DNA. To follow how we explore the world through images, and what it means to be human, continues to enrich my life—and I hope that as many people as possible will discover what an extraordinary adventure it is.