Composition in black and green

Composition in Black and Green from 1950 is a characteristic work from Bergman’s early, formative period. We can see here how she gained inspiration from Surrealism at the same time that the picture foreshadows the more modern mode of expression that she evolved towards the end of the decade and throughout the 60s.

Anna-Eva Bergman (1909-87) is counted among the leading Norwegian visual artists of her generation and belongs to the so-called École de Paris, which can be seen as the French equivalent of American Abstract Expressionism. Bergman is in some ways a stranger in Norwegian art history and in a sense belongs more to a European art historical context. This is due to the fact that she left Norway relatively early and was strongly influenced by the leading international artists of the time. She spent a great part of her life living and working abroad, and together with her husband, Hans Hartung, she lived a nomadic life travelling between France, Germany, Spain and Norway.

OWG