ArtistSwedish
Lars Andersson Bjönni
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Lars Bjönni Andersson was born on October 11, 1940, in Gothenburg, Sweden, and lived a creative life that wove together two distinct passions: painting and jazz guitar. Growing up in Gothenburg, he worked as a decorator in his early adult years before gradually committing himself fully to life as a visual artist. His nickname 'Bjönni' - which became so intertwined with his identity that it merged into his professional name - came from his years in Gothenburg's working-class neighborhoods and eventually gave a name to the homestead he built on the island of Orust.
From 1963 onward, Bohuslän became his artistic territory. The region's rocky coastlines, shifting sea light, and pastoral interiors provided him with an inexhaustible visual vocabulary. His move to Orust in 1972, after his second marriage, transformed his practice. Together with his family, he extended an old 19th-century farmhouse into a sprawling 400-square-metre property he named Bjönnigården, on the western side of the island. For more than two decades, this became both his home and his studio - a place where the rhythms of coastal life fed directly into his work.
Andersson worked primarily in oil on canvas and color lithography, the latter being particularly well suited to the layered, atmospheric quality he sought in his landscapes. His color lithographs - often signed and numbered in editions of up to 300 - capture the muted greens and greys of Bohuslän's hillsides, the glare of sunlight off fjord water, and the unhurried texture of Swedish coastal life. These prints circulated widely through galleries and eventually found their way into Swedish public institutions.
His works entered significant public collections, including Gothenburg City, the Gothenburg and Bohuslän Regional Council, Stockholm County Council, Uddevalla municipality, and the Swedish Parliament (Sveriges riksdag). Works were also acquired for hospitals, banks, schools, and cultural centers across Sweden, as well as Lofoten's cultural house in Norway - a testament to the broad appeal his imagery held beyond regional audiences.
Bjönnigården was sold in 1996 to another artist, and Andersson moved temporarily away from Orust before eventually returning to the island for the final years of his life. He died on July 14, 2011, in Stala, Orust, Bohuslän.
At auction, Andersson's work circulates primarily through regional Swedish houses, with the strongest activity at Auktionshuset STO Bohuslän, Göteborgs Auktionsverk, and Borås Auktionshall. On Auctionist, 11 lots have been catalogued - all concluded. The works are predominantly color lithographs, with top realized prices in the range of 650 to 1,000 SEK, reflecting the accessible, collector-friendly end of the Swedish print market. His oil paintings, when they appear, command somewhat higher interest.