Berta Hansson

Berta Elisabet Hansson (1910–1994) was a Swedish artist and educator. She is remembered as one of the country's most prominent Expressionists, especially for her depictions of children. After first working as a schoolteacher, in 1940 she attended Otte Skölds Art School (now Pernby School of Painting) and started to paint. Impressed by her work, the writer and artist Elsa Björkman-Goldschmidt arranged a solo exhibition for her in 1943. Thanks to the interest of her reviewers, she soon became a full-time artist. In the 1950s, she spent a year in South Africa where she was upset by the conditions imposed on black people. On returning to Sweden she expressed her anti-apartheid feelings in artworks and textiles. Later in life, she turned to sculpture, creating portraits of children in terracotta and bronze. Her works can be seen in several Swedish museums including Nationalmuseet and Moderna Museet.