ArtistSwedish
Tage Törning
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Born on 27 September 1925 in Torpa, Kronobergs lan, Tage Evert Torning grew up in the rural landscape of Smaland before moving to Gothenburg to pursue formal artistic training. He studied at Slojdforeningens skola in Gothenburg under sculptor Hjalmar Eldh from 1944 to 1946, then continued at Valands malarskola from 1947 to 1950 under the Hungarian-born painter Endre Nemes. Nemes ran a particularly charged and experimental environment at Valand during those years, pushing students toward symbolic and figurative approaches, and Torning absorbed that foundation well. He supplemented his Swedish schooling with study trips across Europe, visiting the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Italy.
Torning's work centers on the human figure, with recurring subjects including laborers, animals, and figures in interiors or outdoor settings. Works such as "Stenhuggaren" (The Stonecutter) and "Badmastaren" (The Bathing Superintendent, 1961, now in Moderna museet) reflect his interest in observed, working-class subjects rendered with a warm but restrained palette. His compositions tend to be deliberate rather than spontaneous, with weight given to posture, gesture, and the relationship between figure and environment. He also worked in oil, watercolor, etching, and lithography, and his print editions circulated through Swedish galleries and cultural institutions.
He was the brother of artist Erik Torning, and from 1955 was married to textile artist Lil Erie Margareta Johansson, who worked in applied arts. The two formed part of a wider circle of Gothenburg-based artists active in the postwar period. Torning exhibited solo at Lorensbergs Konstsalong in Gothenburg, Krognoshuset in Lund, and Norrkopings konstmuseum, among other venues, and participated in group exhibitions alongside peers including Berto Marklund and Sven Deurell.
His work entered several major Swedish public collections. Moderna museet holds at least three pieces, and his paintings are also represented at Goteborgs konstmuseum, Kalmar konstmuseum, Malmo museum, Norrkopings konstmuseum, Hallands konstmuseum, and Goteborgs kommun. This spread across institutions from Gothenburg to Stockholm underscores the recognition he accumulated during his active decades, though he remained based in the west Swedish art world.
Torning died in 2012. In the current auction market, his oils on canvas appear most frequently at Goteborgs Auktionsverk, Stockholms Auktionsverk Goteborg, and smaller regional houses. The Auctionist platform holds 14 items attributed to him. His top recorded sale in the database is a signed and dated 1973 composition that sold for 1,700 EUR, with other oils fetching between 300 and 1,500 SEK. Works titled "Stenhuggaren", figurative compositions, and landscape subjects are among those that appear most often, reflecting the core themes of his career.