KunstenaarSwedish
Klas-Göran Klaesson
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Klas-Göran Klaesson grew up in the pottery heartland of Höganäs in northwestern Skåne, where the clay-rich soil and generations of craft tradition shaped the region's identity. His father, Otto Klaesson, ran Klase Keramik, a small workshop whose name would become Klas-Göran's own signature. By the age of sixteen he was already throwing, glazing, and firing alongside his father, learning through repetition rather than formal schooling. That apprenticeship became his entire artistic education.
For much of the 1960s and 1970s, the workshop produced functional and decorative stoneware in the practical Scandinavian idiom - bowls, vases, and plates with earthy glazes that suited the domestic interiors of the era. Klas-Göran took over production completely, freeing Otto to focus on sales and distribution. The signature he used on pieces, 'Klase Jr', distinguished his work from his father's while keeping the family brand intact.
A turning point came in the mid-1980s when the workshop shifted away from tableware toward sculptural figurines. Klaesson found his subject matter in two overlapping worlds: the barnyard and the Bible. Pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and birds became recurring characters, rendered with a deadpan humor that gave them a quality somewhere between folk toy and philosophical comment. The 'Noas Ark' series, first produced around 1969 and revisited over following decades, became among his most recognized works - pairs of animals loaded onto a modest ceramic vessel, both naive and knowing in equal measure.
Beyond the workshop, Klaesson extended his practice into public and community work. He created 3,000 ceramic reliefs with schoolchildren across the region, and his 'Rondellmåsarna' - a set of seagull sculptures installed at the roundabout at the entrance to Lerberget - became an enduring fixture of local public space. After closing his workshop in 2018, he continued working at the KKAM Atelier in Höganäs until shortly before his death in the summer of 2024. A memorial exhibition of selected works was held at the Atelier in September of that year.
On the Nordic auction market, Klaesson's ceramics appear primarily at houses in northwestern Skåne, with Höganäs Auktionsverk and Helsingborgs Auktionskammare accounting for the largest share of sales. His work sells in a collector-friendly range, with a glazed stoneware bird sculpture achieving 6,500 SEK and animal group sculptures including sheep and rams selling in the 2,000-3,000 SEK range. The consistency of his output and the recognizability of his 'Klase Jr' signature have made him a reliable presence in regional ceramic auctions.