Arne Isacsson

Training under Otte Sköld is recorded. Ellert Sörman is recorded as having studied under Arne Isacsson. Works named in the authority record are Pålarne. Work by Arne Isacsson is recorded in the collections of Nationalmuseum. Distinctions recorded are honorary degree, Professor, Dalsland medal and Illis quorum.

• Name — Arne Isacsson • Born — 21 March 1917 • Birthplace — Ronneby, Blekinge County, Sweden • Died — 25 September 2010 • Place of death — Gerlesborg, Bohuslän, Sweden • Resting Place — Laxarby Cemetery • Occupation — Watercolour painter, educator • Known for — Founding the Gerlesborg School of Fine Art • Children — Magnus Isacsson

• Illustration — Isacsson demonstrating watercolour monotyping, 2006. Arne Isacsson was born in Ronneby, Sweden. His grandparents had emigrated from Dalsland to South Bend, Indiana, United States, but returned in the late 19th century. His father enlisted, but had returned to work as a mill worker in Ronneby at the time of Isacsson's birth. A few years later, the family moved to Södermalm in Stockholm and in 1930 to Gothenburg, where Isacsson graduated in 1935. He was a student of artist Otte Sköld from 1944 to 1946. Isacsson spent his summers in Dalsland, where he came into contact with the artists Georg Suttner and Algot Galle. Together with Carleinar Tellwe and Lizzie Olsson-Arle they formed the Bengtsfors Group. Isacsson was the originator of the watercolour monotyping technique and used it, among other things, in collages that were laminated between panes of glass. He is represented at the Nationalmuseum with a portrait of Vilhelm Moberg, the National Portrait Gallery at Gripsholm, the Swedish Parliament, the Centre Culturel Suédois in Paris, the Gothenburg Museum of Art, and more. Isacsson also collaborated with sculptor Pål Svensson on the sculptures Pålarne in Fjällbacka and Sote märke in Kungshamn. Isacsson was the founder of the Gerlesborg School of Fine Art in Gerlesborg (1944), eventually with branches in Stockholm (1948) and Provence (1958), and was appointed professor of watercolour technique in 1983. He is the author of several books on watercolour techniques. In 2004 the biography Arne Isacsson: nedslag i ett konstnärskap by Gertrud Gidlund and Göran Gustafsson was published. In 2008, a lavishly illustrated licentiate thesis was published: Arne Isacsson – konstnär pedagog folkbildare by Anita Midbjer at Umeå University. Isacsson was married from 1947 to 1958 to teacher Kerstin Renqvist (1922–2009), sister of artist Torsten Renqvist; from 1958 to 1965 to actress Mona Dan-Bergman (1927–1992); and from 1966 until his death to artist Margareta Blomberg (born 1943). His children include Swedish-Canadian filmmaker Magnus Isacsson (1948–2012) from his first marriage. Arne Isacsson died in 2010 in Gerlesborg and is buried at Laxarby Cemetery.

• Nationalmuseum • National Portrait Gallery at Gripsholm • State Art Council • Gothenburg Museum of Art • Museum of Bohuslän • Dalsland Art Museum • Centre Culturel Suédois in Paris • Nordic Watercolour Museum