Ei yhteyttä palvelimeen

Gudmar Olovson – A life in sculpture – Lisa Gartz talks about her favourites


Gudmar Olovson A life in sculpture

– Lisa Gartz’s favourites


We have spoken with Lisa Gartz, Specialist Sculpture, who has chosen her favourites in the Online only auction Gudmar Olovson – A life in sculpture.


– Presenting the skill of an artist like Gudmar Olovson is no easy task but Bukowskis is delighted to accept this honour in homage to this master sculptor. Working closely with Gudmar Olovson’s children, in this retrospective exhibition and Online only auction, here we seek to celebrate one of Sweden’s foremost sculptors.



View the catalogue


”L'élan (The Stride)”


The sculpture “L'élan in which certain patterns in modern sculpture, like Degas’s step, or the torso ensconced frontally in the tradition of Rodin or Wlérick, are rethought by Gudmar Olovson through an energy that is all his own. A Scandinavian’s energy, but a fighter’s too.

Immersed in her time, indissociable from her space, the woman moves forward, motivated by her momentum alone, with an impetuous step, just before making a leap. The profiles unite with the outlines of the planes, in a series of rhythms that accentuate the power of the movement. It is a kind of vigorous hymn, chanted like a plastic paean.


To the object


”La jeunesse (Youth)”

Gudmar Olovson started working on the sculpture “La jeunesse” in the mid-1960s. The model was his wife Birgitta. However, as the work progressed, he realised that an addition in the form of a male model would make the sculpture complete.

In the couple’s first years in Paris they got to know another couple of the same age. The man, Jean Paris, was the grandson of Paul Claudel who was the brother of the sculptor, Camille Claudel. Jean Paris offered to model and the work continued. When the summer came, however, he had to return to his family home in Brangues outside Lyon and so invited Gudmar and Birgitta to accompany him. They enthusiastically accepted and took the train down to Brangues with the unfinished sculpture in their luggage. The Olovsons stayed in Brangues until the sculpture was finished and the result was a strikingly beautiful sculpture in plaster with a young Birgitta and Jean Paris representing the ideal of youth.

To the object


”Le Silence (Silence)”

I think this sculpture, which was created in 1975, is a real masterpiece. The head is so proud, so powerful, so engaging. Unlike Gudmar's often very tender compositions, this is something completely different.

To the object


”Kalidja, femme Kabyle (Kalidja, Kabyle woman)”

You get fascinated by her beautiful features. It is an elevated calm in attitude and gaze that brings Nefertitis' royal 'grace' to mind. But it's not just the beauty that makes her interesting; there is something more there, something awake in the eyes.

To the sculpture


Bid on the objects