Elsie Dahlberg-Sundberg facts for kids
Elsie Margareta Dahlberg-Sundberg (1916–2005) was a Swedish artist who created sculptures and medals. She started studying art in 1937. Later, in the early 1950s, she continued her art education in Denmark, France, and Italy. After creating several artworks for public places, she was invited to join the Nya Idun society in 1958. In 1968, she made a bronze sculpture of two boys called Snacket for the town of Malmberget. She continued to create other public artworks and smaller sculptures. In the late 1970s, she became well-known for designing medals. In the 1980s, she started focusing on wood carvings.
Elsie's Early Life and Art Journey
Elsie Margareta Dahlberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 8, 1916. Her father, Lars Fredrik Dahlberg, was a businessman, and her mother was Anna Sofia Margareta Eriksson. Elsie was one of nine children in her family. She was born with a condition called clubfoot, which affected her foot. She had her first operation for it when she was four years old. After several operations, she was able to walk and even dance using special shoes.
From a young age, Elsie wanted to be an artist. In 1937, she began taking evening art classes at the Tekniska Skolan. She paid for her classes by working at a government office in Sweden. One day, she visited the school's sculpture class and instantly loved working with clay. She decided to stop painting and leave her office job. With a small scholarship from the school, she focused entirely on sculpture. She paused her studies for a while to work in a printing office and a bank. In early 1940, she started caring for an elderly couple. The woman's sister happened to be a sculptor, which helped Elsie continue her art training.
After returning to the Technical School for a bit, she began studying at the Academy in 1941. In November of that year, she married Per Sundberg. He had been training to be a pilot but missed his final exam because he was caring for his sick mother. Per passed away in 1993. Their daughter, Helena, born in 1943, also became a sculptor. In 1951, Elsie and Per moved to Lidingö. Because her husband worked at Bromma Airport, Elsie was able to get free tickets. This allowed her to travel and study art in places like Copenhagen, Paris, Nice, and Rome. In 1952, she received a scholarship and traveled to work at the Villa San Michele in Capri, Italy.
Creating Artworks
Elsie Dahlberg-Sundberg used many different materials in her art. These included terracotta (a type of clay), mosaic, wood, stone, bronze, and plaster. She created many artworks for public spaces, such as the sculpture Snacket in Malmberget. Starting in 1940, she showed her art in many exhibitions. For example, in 1941, she held an exhibition with Wiwi Möller-Lindquist at the Brinken Gallery in Stockholm.
Medals and Later Works
In 1975, a company called AB Sporrong asked Elsie to create a series of medals. These medals were part of a collection called Sveriges och dess regenter under 1000 år, which showed Swedish kings and queens from 1000 years of history. She also designed medals featuring famous Swedish writers, titled Stora Svenska Författare (1978). Another medal she created honored the birth of Crown Princess Victoria on July 14, 1977. In 1980, Elsie made a medal to remember Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's journey through the Northwest Passage, a famous sea route. Her later sculptures include Avskedet på polarisen (1979) and Pojke med säljpipa (1987).
Elsie Dahlberg passed away on January 27, 2005. She was buried in Solna's Norra begravningsplatsen.
