ArtistSwedish
Fabian Lundqvist
3 active items
Fabian Valentin Lundqvist was born on 16 March 1913 in Malmö, Sweden, and spent the greater part of his career rooted in the cultural environment of Skåne. He received his formal training at Skånska målarskolan in Malmö in 1946, studying under the German-Danish sculptor and painter Harald Isenstein. This foundation in southern Swedish artistic life set the tone for a practice grounded in observation, human presence, and the southern light of the region.
In 1948, Lundqvist travelled to Paris - a pivotal move that brought him into contact with two major figures of the French post-war avant-garde. He studied under André Lhote, the Cubist theoretician and teacher whose influence on compositional structure was considerable, and Jean Fautrier, whose gestural, thickly worked surfaces anticipated Art Informel. Further travels took Lundqvist to France (1947-50), Switzerland (1953), and Spain and Morocco (1954), feeding a body of work steeped in Mediterranean warmth and the pleasures of everyday social life.
Lundqvist worked predominantly in oil, pastel, and watercolour, with a subject range centred on women - often in pairs or small groups, in interiors, gardens, or open landscapes. Ballerinas, women at cafes, and figures in the countryside recur across his output, treated with loose, sensuous brushwork that recalls the lessons of both Lhote's structure and a more intimate Swedish lyrical tradition. He also produced reliefs in brass and metal foil, demonstrating a sustained interest in three-dimensional form.
From 1958 he worked as a designer and artistic advisor at Trelleborg and Alsterfors Glasbruk, placing him within the mid-century Scandinavian glass tradition alongside designers at Orrefors and Kosta. Examples of his work entered the collections of the Ystad museums and Malmö General Hospital. His exhibition history spanned Scandinavia and Switzerland, with solo shows in Hälsingborg (1944), Ängelholm, Trelleborg, Copenhagen, Lund, Malmö, Basel, Älmhult, and Landskrona between 1944 and 1957.
Lundqvist died in Malmö in 1989 at the age of 76. On the Nordic auction market, his work appears regularly at Swedish regional houses. Garpenhus Auktioner, Markus Auktioner, Bukowskis Malmö, and Crafoord Auktioner Malmö account for the bulk of his auction appearances. His 48 catalogued lots include paintings, prints, and a small number of glass pieces. Top recorded prices include 8,500 SEK for a ballerina painting and 7,637 SEK for a portrait, reflecting a steady mid-market position among collectors of mid-century Skånska figurative painting.