Bror Marklund

Bror Marklund refugee memorial in Malmo.

Bror Hjalmar Marklund (born December 3, 1907 in Husum near Örnsköldsvik , Sweden ; † 1977 ) was a Swedish sculptor and professor at the Kungliga Konsthögskolan Stockholm .

Bror Marklund lost his parents at an early age and was trained as a carpenter in Umeå . In 1926 he started as a sculptor in Stockholm and from 1928 he studied at the art academy there with Carl Milles and Nils Sjöberg . His sources of inspiration included Aristide Maillol and Charles Despiau . As a scholarship holder, Marklund traveled to Italy and France from 1934 to 1936 . In Paris, Ossip Zadkine and Henri Laurens impressed him with their modern style, and Pablo Picasso's and Henry Moore's works are also reflected in Marklund's sculptures.

Bror Marklund's works include the sculpture “Thalia” in the entrance area of ​​the Malmö City Theater , the statue “DNA Molecule” in Uppsala , the portal surround of the police headquarters in Stockholm and the bronze doors of the SEB Bank headquarters there. Marklund became well known when he won the competition to design the bronze gates for the Historical Museum in Stockholm in 1938 . The doors are designed under the motto “Heritage of the Fathers” and were inspired by Jan Fridegård's novel Tragudars land ( Land of the Wooden Gods ) , Indian art, 11th century sculptures and Picasso's work Guernica . The salient motifs include a pregnant woman, the god Odin and the bishop Ansgar .

Bror Marklund became a member of the Swedish Art Academy in 1953 and professor of drawing at the Stockholm Art School in 1959. His sculptures were often described by contemporaries as erotically primitive, in the pagan style with a medieval touch, or as brutal, outdated and overly monumental. Marklund himself also noted that superficial aesthetics was not his goal. Notwithstanding this, he received several state awards, and after his death, the Örnsköldsvik municipality donated a grant in his honor. Marklund's summer workshop in Funäsdalen has been moved to the museum and art gallery in Örnsköldsvik.

Bror Marklund was married twice.