Torah Vega Holmström

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Anna Tora Vega Elizabeth Holmström (born March 2, 1880 in Tottarp , Skåne , † January 28, 1967 in Lund ) was a Swedish painter.

Life

Tora Vega Holmström was born in 1880 as the daughter of Dr. phil., geologists and Rector of a community college (folkhögskola) Leonard Pontus Holmström and his wife Hedvig Nordström in Tottarp, a Småort in the municipality Staffanstorp in the southern Swedish province of Skåne (Skåne) . She grew up with five siblings at the Hvilan Volkshochschule , the oldest Swedish school of this type run by her parents, in Åkarp in the municipality of Burlöv .

After leaving school, he studied drawing in the plaster class of the Academy in Copenhagen from 1896 , which was followed by anatomy studies at the Anatomical Institute in Lund from 1897 to 1898. From 1900 to 1902 she was temporarily with Carl Wilhelmson at the Valand Art School in Gothenburg. In 1903 she went to Germany for a year, where she took lessons from Adolf Hölzel at his " Dachau painting school".

An important person in Tora Vega Holmström's circle of friends was Hanna Larsdotter, who later became the wife of the painter Ernst Norlind . Larsdotter was one of the first women to study agriculture in Hvilan. As the owner of Borgeby Castle , she often hosted artists and writers. One of them was Rainer Maria Rilke , with whom Holmström later exchanged letters for many years.

Tora Vega Holmström realized early on that it would be difficult to combine a future family with the profession of artist. She made a conscious decision to go her own way and never get married or have children. Her first extended trip abroad was to Paris in 1907. Together with friends, she visited the private collection of Henri Matisse , met Rilke, who at the time was Auguste Rodin's secretary, and studied at the Académie Colarossi . Further study trips took her again to France; here u. a. to Marseille, Italy, Algeria and Finland. Adolf Hölzel also visited her in Dachau and later in Stuttgart several times between 1922 and 1933.

In 1914 Tora Vega Holmström was asked to show some works at the “ Baltic Exhibition ” in Malmö. Her lively style and sometimes daring colors provoked violent reactions and were considered "unfeminine". A criticism that she pursued for many years. Her paintings showed subjects such as mother and child, the farmer's wife from southern Sweden or people in general and indicate a great deal of social and current-political involvement. In addition to profane human representations, she also made religious compositions, still lifes and landscapes, the latter mainly from Sweden.

Tora Vega Holmstrom led a sparse nomadic life for decades. Often she had to ask for accommodation or a studio from friends and family. Until she was 60 years old, she did not have a permanent address. She spent the last years of her life in Lund, where she died in 1967 at the age of almost 87.

Works (selection)

  • Self-portrait , 1913
  • Strangers , 1913/14
  • Figure composition , 1916,
  • Jultulpaner
  • Systrar , 1916.
  • Mademoiselle Leah , 1920
  • Maria Blanchard , portrait, 1921
  • The Equestrian , 1921
  • Fruktskål mot blå fond , 1924
  • Balloons over the Desert Gobi , 1930
  • Spanish Madonna , 1931
  • Cilia, the weaver , 1937

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c images ( memento from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at Tomelilla Konstsamling
  2. ↑ Illustration at the Malmö Konstmuseum
  3. ↑ Image at Bukowskis.com
  4. ↑ Images at the Moderna Museet Malmö (all others)
personal data
SURNAME Holmström, Tora Vega
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holmström, Anna Tora Vega Elizabeth (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Tottarp , Skåne , Sweden
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1967
Place of death Lund