Einar Andersson was a Swedish ophthalmologist who was also an artist. This
text is about his achievements in the field of art. His works include
pencil-drawings, drawings in Indian ink and in charcoal, water-colours, oil
paintings, wood-carvings, models of ships, ceramics, and handicrafted items
of copper, pewter and brass. He was active for six or seven decades and his
production was very rich.
Einar Andersson was born in 1901 in Gothenburg, Sweden, in a simple and
quite poor home. Nevertheless, he entered the gymnasium (studying Latin, and
Greek!) and took his exam 1920. He thereafter studied medicine in Lund in
the southernmost part of Sweden, and specialised in ophthalmology. For a few
years in the thirties he worked at the Sahlgrenska Sjukhuset, a hospital in
Gothenburg. Then he moved to Halmstad, a small town on the Swedish west
coast, where he spent the rest of his life, first as a private practitioner,
and then at the Halmstad hospital until he retired in 1966. He died in the
spring of 1986.
In his work as an ophthalmologist Einar Andersson kept a low profile. He did
not do any science and seldom went to conferences. Among now living
ophthalmologists there are probably few that remember him. Still, he was a
hard-working professional and was much appreciated by his patients. Beside
his profession he was very well read especially in the humanities, and had a
sharp intellect and a keen perception.
While studying in Lund and later working as a young doctor there he won some
fame as a portraitist and caricaturist. Many of his portraits, some
diabolic, some flattering were published in the students’ magazine Lundagård
with the signature “7”. Otherwise Einar most often chose his motifs from
nature. He drew and painted landscapes, animals, clouds, mountains, rocks,
boats and the sea. He preferred water or gouache colours until he was middle
aged when he started to paint in oil colours. His style in marines or
landscapes was purely realistic though he did not always depict existing
scenes.
Einar’s style was a result of his exceptionally good visual memory. He knew
what an old thundercloud looks like in the evening sun, or waves in
backlight and rough weather, or the patterns in the surface of a rock. His
son David made several hikes and did a lot of fishing with his father but
never saw him even stop to memorize a motif, much less sketch it. Yet, when
he got home he could draw from his memory all he needed to create his
realistic landscapes and seascapes.
In his middle age Einar also experimented with other materials and
techniques than the two-dimensional. He did some ceramics, he hammered
metals, and most important, he carved wood. He made reliefs and sculptures
that he often painted with oil-colours. The sculptures most often portrayed
different species of birds. Among the reliefs there are some human portraits
but also motifs from nature. In the sculptures and especially in the reliefs
some of his normal botanical and zoological exactitude was replaced by a
more decorative and artistically more concentrated treatment of the motif
that makes the viewer’s experience more intense.
His works are now scattered among his family, relatives, friends, and in his
former places of work. He never sold anything and was not interested in
having a big audience.
This text was originally written by David Kornhall, Einar Anderssons eldest
son,
One boss, one resident al-so meant very close coope-ration. Amazingly, every-thing considered, this wor-ked very well. EA was a very good teacher; I began to learn ophthalmology basics and I became really interested in the subject, which I had not been before.
Also, I met EAs artist pro-duction, and was deeply im-pressed. I still am almost half a century later. I am glad EAs relatives allow me to present him to a larger audience of eye people.
Part Pelican in TBE vignette comes from a EA painting in my home.
oh
Read EAs son Davids´ pre-sentation to the right, look at thumbprints below and then press here. Move along between picts (next or previous) or come back to other TBE things, http://www.thebalticeye.com Have fun
