Editing Per Hasselberg

{{Short description|Swedish sculptor (1850-1894)}}
{{Other uses|Hasselberg (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Per Hasselberg cirka 1885.jpg|thumb|Per Hasselberg in [[Ronneby]] about 1885.]]
[[File:Hasselberg bild.gif|thumb|Per Hasselberg in his Stockholm studio about 1893.]]
[[File:Per Hasselberg by Anders Zorn 1892.jpg|thumb|Per Hasselberg drawn by [[Anders Zorn]] 1892.]]
'''Per Hasselberg''' (1 January 1850 – 25 July 1894), until 1870 '''Karl Petter Åkesson''', was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[sculpture|sculptor]]. He has received critical acclaim mainly for his delicate and [[allegorical]] [[Nude (art)|nudes]], copies of which are widely distributed in public places and private homes in Sweden.

== Biography ==
Hasselberg was born 1 January 1850 in the small village Hasselstad near [[Ronneby]] in the province of [[Blekinge]] in the south of Sweden.

He grew up as the sixth child in a poor family. His very religious father, Åke Andersson, was a small farmer, a construction worker for bridges, and a cabinet-maker.

Hasselberg finished school at the age of twelve and became a carpenter apprentice in [[Karlshamn]], where he even got a training as ornamental sculptor. After this, he moved to Stockholm in 1869, where he took several jobs as ornamental sculptor and visited evening and weekend courses at craft school.

In 1876, he got a scholarship from the Swedish [[National Board of Trade (Sweden)|National Board of Trade]] to travel to Paris, where he was accepted at the [[École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts]] the following year. There, he studied for three years under the sculptor and academy professor [[François Jouffroy]]. He then worked as sculptor in Paris until 1890, when he returned to Stockholm to open a studio in [[Östermalm]].

In 1885, he was taken in at the [[Sahlgrenska University Hospital]] in [[Gothenburg]] because of [[aortic dissection]]. He recovered, but doctors told him he had only a few years to live.<ref>[https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=12632&forceOrdinarySite=true#Arkivuppgifter Lennart Wærn: ''Petter (Per) Hasselberg, Skulptör'', Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, Riksarkivet].</ref>

In 1894, his condition became serious again and he died 25 July in Stockholm at the hospital [[Sophiahemmet]].<ref name="Torell 2007 p.">{{cite book | last=Torell | first=Ulf | title=Per Hasselberg: den nakna sensualismens skulptör | publisher=Ronneby hembygdsförening | publication-place=Ronneby | year=2007 | isbn=978-91-975092-3-7 | oclc=192057192 | language=sv | pages=14–25; 226; 283}}</ref>

At the time of his death, he had no debts and a book of orders of a total sum of about 30.000 Swedish Crowns,<ref>{{cite book | last=Torell | first=Ulf | title=Per Hasselberg: den nakna sensualismens skulptör | publisher=Ronneby hembygdsförening | publication-place=Ronneby | year=2007 | isbn=978-91-975092-3-7 | oclc=192057192 | language=sv | pages=271–286}}</ref> which is equivalent to about 250.000 [[United States dollar|US-Dollar]] in 2015.<ref>[http://www.historicalstatistics.org/Currencyconverter.html Historical currency converter, by Rodney Edvinsson, associate professor, Stockholm University].</ref> His will was that the large marble blocks, which were being shipped from Italy and which were destined for large copies of ''Farfadern'' and ''Näckrosen'', should be handed over to his sculptor colleague [[Christian Eriksson]] to do the assignment, which he also did.<ref>[https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=12632&forceOrdinarySite=true#Arkivuppgifter Lennart Wærn: ''Petter (Per) Hasselberg, Skulptör'', Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, Riksarkivet].</ref>

== Major works ==
[[Image:Per Hasselberg Snöklockan Rottneros Park.jpg|thumb|''[[Snowdrop (sculpture)|Snöklockan]]'' ([[snowdrop]]), made in Paris 1881 as [[plaster cast]] and exhibited there the same year; here a copy from 1953 cast in bronze by C & A Nicci (Rome/Italy) placed in Rottneros Park near [[Sunne, Sweden|Sunne]] in [[Värmland]]/Sweden.]]

=== Snöklockan (Snowdrop, Paris 1881) ===
{{Main|Snowdrop (sculpture)}}
The original French name was ''La Perce-Neige'' (snow breaker) and it was first made in plaster cast for the 1881 [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]] in Paris. Hasselberg's model was a 16-year-old Italian. At her feet shows a small snowdrop, and the statue was understood as a symbol of new life breaking through the snow in springtime.

''Snöklocka'' actually is not the ordinary Swedish name for the flower, which is ''snödroppe''. It is a rare poetic name that historically was derived from a literal translation of the ordinary German name ''Schneeglöckchen'' (little snowbell).<ref>Lennart Waern: ''Natursymboliken hos Per Hasselberg'', Tidskrift för konstventenskap 29, Uppsala 1952, p. 71-91, here 72-73.</ref> Thus a musical connotation was added by using it for the statue, and her right hand is close to her right ear.

The Snowdrop was not only accepted at the 1881 Salon, but even received an honorable mention, which no other Swedish work achieved that year. This success meant that Hasselberg suddenly was a famous artist in Sweden, where the [[Nationalmuseum]] in Stockholm soon ordered a copy in marble. It was finished in 1883 and received a gold medal at the Salon in Paris the same year. In 1885, also the [[Gothenburg Museum of Art]] had its marble copy. The [[Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]] in [[Copenhagen]]/Denmark has one since 1889. Copies in bronze at public places are on Maria Square ([[Mariatorget]])/Stockholm, in [[Falun]], [[Ronneby]], and near [[Sunne, Sweden|Sunne]] (Rottneros park).

1,700 pieces in [[parian ware]] (marble imitation) with a height of 50&nbsp;cm and 625 pieces in 60&nbsp;cm were produced in 1887-1926 by [[Gustavsberg porcelain]].

The more recent reception of the Snowdrop in Sweden in the 21st century presented a new additive in the form of certain [[feminist]] views. One author of the catalogue of the large Hasselberg [[Retrospective#Arts and popular culture|retrospective]] in Stockholm 2010 claimed that the closed eyes of the statue were not a sign of just waking up but rather showed that Hasselberg had ''“forced”'' the ''“body of the young woman”'' into a ''“state of unconsciousness”''.<ref name="Hasselberg 2010 p. ">Jessica Sjöholm Skrubbe: ''Gränsfall: estetik och obcenitet i Per Hasselbergs skulpturer'', in: {{cite book | last=Gunnarsson | first=Annika, et al (Eds) | title=Per Hasselberg: Waldemarsuddes utställningskatalog | publisher=Arena/Åmells Artbooks Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde | publication-place=Malmö Stockholm | year=2010 | isbn=978-91-7843-325-4 | oclc=656365821 }}, p.63-81, here p. 67.</ref>

[[File:Farfadern av Per Hasselberg.jpg|thumb|Farfadern (father's father = grandfather) at the [[National Library of Sweden]] in Stockholm; plaster cast 1886 in Paris; here cast in bronze 1896 by Gruet Jeune in Paris.]]

=== Farfadern (Father’s Father, Paris 1886) ===
The original French name was ''L'Aiëul'' (The Grandfather) and it was first made in plaster cast 1886 in Paris and exhibited at the [[Palais de l'Industrie]] that year. The basic idea was to show nature's cycle containing the poles of young and old. It had its origin during Hasselberg's long treatment at university hospital in [[Gothenburg]] in 1885, after which he learned that he had only a few more years to live. He knew, therefore, that the planned work might be his last one and thus his artistic testament.

The idea became more definitive after he had seen an old man sitting with a naked sleeping boy on his knees on a boulevard in Paris. When it was finished, his artist friends were enthusiastic about it, but the exhibition in Paris was no success.<ref>{{cite book | last=Torell | first=Ulf | title=Per Hasselberg: den nakna sensualismens skulptör | publisher=Ronneby hembygdsförening | publication-place=Ronneby | year=2007 | isbn=978-91-975092-3-7 | oclc=192057192 | language=sv | pages=143–145}}</ref>

The original copies in plaster cast by Hasselberg are lost, but a copy in bronze was placed near the [[National Library of Sweden]] in Stockholm 1896, and a copy in marble also from 1896 is today in the [[Gothenburg Museum of Art]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Gunnarsson et al (eds) | first=Annika | title=Per Hasselberg: Waldemarsuddes utställningskatalog | publisher=Arena/Åmells Artbooks Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde | publication-place=Malmö Stockholm | year=2010 | isbn=978-91-7843-325-4 | oclc=656365821 | page=114 and 120}}</ref>

[[File:Per Hasselberg Grodan Rottneros Park.jpg|thumb|''Grodan'' in Rottneros Park near [[Sunne, Sweden|Sunne]] in [[Värmland]], cast in bronze 1957.]]

=== Grodan (Frog, Paris 1889) ===
''Grodan'' (French ''La Grenouille'', English ''The Frog'') was made in plaster cast for the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)]] in Paris and exhibited there. There is a frog between the knees of a girl. Hasselberg reported that the concept of this piece had spontaneously come up when a model in his studio during a break sat on the floor in this position to rest.<ref>{{cite book | last=Torell | first=Ulf | title=Per Hasselberg: den nakna sensualismens skulptör | publisher=Ronneby hembygdsförening | publication-place=Ronneby | year=2007 | isbn=978-91-975092-3-7 | oclc=192057192 | language=sv | page=174}}</ref>

The French word ''grenouille'' does not only mean ''frog'' but in slang also for ''street girl''. It is unknown if Hasselberg was aware of this second meaning, but it was commented that by this statue, he possibly wanted to express his time's view of a tension between the noble and the less noble sides of youth.<ref>Lennart Waern: ''Natursymboliken hos Per Hasselberg'', Tidskrift för konstventenskap 29, Uppsala 1952, p. 71-91, there p. 85-86.</ref>

Several copies in bronze are in public parks in Sweden and marble copies in museums. The most recent bronze copy from 2009 in [[Ulricehamn]] replaced a stolen copy from the 1940s.<ref>[https://www.ulricehamn.se/uppleva/offentlig-konst/skulpturer/ Skulpturer, website of the city of Ulricehamn] (accessed 2019-12-17).</ref> 230 pieces in [[parian ware]] (marble imitation) with a height of 38&nbsp;cm and 241 pieces in 26&nbsp;cm were produced in 1906-1926 by [[Gustavsberg porcelain]].

[[File:Per Hasselberg Näckrosen Rottneros Park.jpg|thumb|''Näckrosen'' (Water Lily), Stockholm 1892; here a copy from 1953 in marble by [[Giovanni Ardini]] (Italy) placed in Rottneros Park near [[Sunne, Sweden|Sunne]] in [[Värmland]].]]

=== Näckrosen (Water Lily, Stockholm 1892) ===
''Näckrosen'' was first exhibited in plaster cast at the Danish art society [[Kunstforeningen]] in [[Copenhagen]] 1892 and later that year in Gothenburg/Sweden.<ref>{{cite book | last=Torell | first=Ulf | title=Per Hasselberg: den nakna sensualismens skulptör | publisher=Ronneby hembygdsförening | publication-place=Ronneby | year=2007 | isbn=978-91-975092-3-7 | oclc=192057192 | language=sv | pages=241–247}}</ref> In 1893, it was exhibited at the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in [[Chicago]].

The statue shows a young woman lying on her back, floating on a large water lily leaf, surrounded by water lilies, and heads of old men symbolizing [[Merman|mermen]]. The first part of the flower's name ''näck'' in Scandinavia means [[Neck (water spirit)|water spirit]]. So a literal translation of ''Näckrosen'' would be ''Water Spirit Rose''. While this association is usually not present when talking about the flower, Hasselberg here made it unavoidable by the heads of old men in the water. On the backside of the statue, there is a tree stump that holds a chain with a large padlock, apparently indicating that the large water lily leaf was put on chain.

== Gallery ==

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" mode="packed">
File:Tjusningen 2010.jpg|''Tjusningen'' (Fascination) from 1880, since 1917 at [[Mariatorget]] in Stockholm.
File:Snöklockan i gips, Ronneby stadshus.JPG|''Snöklockan'', original in plaster cast from 1881 in the Town hall of [[Ronneby]].
File:Snöklockan - Per Hasselberg.JPG|''Snöklockan'' from 1885 in [[Göteborgs konstmuseum#Fürstenbergska galleriet|Fürstenbergska galleriet]], [[Göteborgs konstmuseum]].
File:Snöklockan, Falun.JPG|''Snöklockan'' in the park ''Kronbergs Minne'' since 1910, [[Falun]].<ref>[http://kulturochmiljoifalun.se/wordpress/?p=415 ''Planteringen i Kronbergs minne''], Föreningen Kultur och Miljö i Falun.</ref>
File:Ernst Josephson, GKM Sk 319.jpg|''Ernst Josephson'', in [[Göteborgs konstmuseum#Fürstenbergska galleriet|Fürstenbergska galleriet]],  bronze from 1883.
File:Ernst Joseph.jpg|''Ernst Josephson'', in bronze from 1883, among further copies in [[Nationalmuseum, Stockholm|Nationalmuseum]], [[Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde]] and [[Thiel Gallery]].
File:Såningskvinnan, Brunnsparken.jpg|''[[Såningskvinnan]]'' or La Semeuse (Sower) from 1883 in [[Brunnsparken, Gothenburg|Brunnsparken, Göteborg]].
File:Kurs- och tidningsbiblioteket samt hedlunds byst.jpg|''[[Sven Adolf Hedlund]]'' from 1883 at Samhällsvetenskapliga biblioteket, Göteborg.
File:Pontus Fürstenberg av Per Hasselberg.jpg|''[[Pontus Fürstenberg]]'', marble from 1885 in [[Göteborgs konstmuseum#Fürstenbergska galleriet|Fürstenbergska galleriet]], [[Göteborgs konstmuseum]].
File:Original interior Fürstenberg gallery.jpg|''Snöklockan'' in marble and six ceiling sculptures from 1895, [[Göteborgs konstmuseum#Fürstenbergska galleriet|Fürstenbergska galleriet]], [[Göteborgs konstmuseum]].
File:KB, Farfadern, Per Hasselberg.JPG|''Farfadern'' since 1896 at [[Kungliga biblioteket]], Stockholm.
File:Vågens tjusning, Karlskrona.jpg|''Vågens tjusning'' (the wave's fascination), since 1920 in the park at Herrgårdsvägen on Hästö, [[Karlskrona]].
File:VågensTjusningGBG.JPG|''Vågens tjusning'', from 1922 in the park at Vasakyrkan, Engelbrektsgatan, Göteborg.
File:Grodan i Ronneby Brunnspark.JPG|''Grodan'' from 1917 in Brunnsparken in Ronneby Brunn.
File:Grodan, Grodparken.JPG|''Grodan'' since 1949 in Grodparken, [[Ulricehamn]].
File:Rotteros Park Coco.JPG|''Coco'' from 1953 in Rottneros Park.
File:Sweden. Stockholm. Djurgården 036.JPG|''Näckrosen'' since 1912 in the park on [[Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde]], Stockholm.
File:Carl Larsson - Triptyk & Per Hasselberg - Näckrosen.JPG|''Näckrosen'' in marble, [[Göteborgs konstmuseum]].
File:Näckrosen 2006.JPG|''Näckrosen'' cast in bronze, [[Waldemarsudde]], Stockholm.
File:Näckrosen, bakifrån.jpg|''Näckrosen'' detail, Göteborgs konstmuseum; chain and padlock on the left.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons-inline}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Per Hasselberg}}
* [http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/35375 Hasselberg at Artfacts]

{{Authority control (arts)|country=SV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasselberg, Per}}
[[Category:Swedish male sculptors]]
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1894 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish sculptors]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish male artists]]
[[Category:People from Ronneby Municipality]]