Birger Simonsson

In 1905 Simonsson moved to Paris, joining fellow artist Sørensen at the Académie Colarossi. The city opened his eyes to the full force of Post-Impressionism: he absorbed the work of Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Matisse at close range. From 1909 to 1910 he studied directly under Matisse at the Académie Matisse, an experience that sharpened his handling of color and form even as he gravitated more instinctively toward Van Gogh's emotional intensity. Despite that proximity to Fauvism, Simonsson remained grounded in an Impressionist sensibility, using it as the backbone for his evolving modernist language.

Back in Sweden, Simonsson became a pivotal figure in the organization of younger Swedish artists. He founded "De Unga" (The Young Ones), a short-lived but influential group that staged provocative exhibitions in the early 1910s, challenging conservative taste. The group faded by 1911 as Simonsson's attention shifted elsewhere, but it had already helped shift the conversation around Swedish modernism. In 1912 he settled in Gothenburg, where the patron Charlotte Mannheimer provided crucial early support, connecting him with collectors and helping stabilize his career. He served as superintendent at Konsthögskolan Valand from around 1916 to 1919.

After the First World War, Simonsson returned to Paris with his family and lived there for seven years, continuing to exhibit in Sweden and Norway throughout. The Paris years deepened his engagement with portraiture and the figure, and he produced work that balanced cosmopolitan influence with a distinctly Scandinavian directness. In 1930 he rejoined Valand as a faculty member, and from 1931 until his death on 11 October 1938 he chaired the landscape painting department. Works by Simonsson are held in the collections of Moderna Museet in Stockholm, confirming his standing as a contributor to Sweden's modernist canon. He is often cited as one of the forerunners of the Gothenburg Colourists, a movement that would define Swedish painting in the decades after his death.

On the Nordic auction market Simonsson's work appears primarily at Swedish houses, with Göteborgs Auktionsverk, Stockholms Auktionsverk Fine Art, Bukowskis, Auktionshuset STO Bohuslän, and Uppsala Auktionskammare all handling his work. His 22 recorded items in the Auctionist database are overwhelmingly paintings, reflecting his primary medium. The top auction result in this dataset reached 28,555 SEK for a standing model figure study, with coastal landscapes and portraits filling the remainder of the top lots. His works sell consistently rather than spectacularly, with buyers drawn to his figure studies and coastal scenes that carry the direct influence of his Paris formation.