Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4

Sven Berlin
Mid Century, modern British artist Sven Berlin, a strutting cockerel

About the Item

Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) A strutting cockerell Pen and ink 8 x 4.5/8 in. (20 x 12 cm.) (4) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London on 14th September 1911, was an English painter, draughtman and writer. He was a key player in the development of the St. Ives art movement. Having studied at the Beckenham School of Art and after a successful career as an adagio dancer in the music-halls he moved to Cornwall with his first wife Helga in 1938 to study at the Camborne-Redruth School of Art, pre-dating the arrival of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholsen to Cornwall. As WW2 broke out, Berlin initially remained a conscientious objector. He worked in the market garden established by the art critic Adrian Stokes outside St Ives. Here he met Nicholson, Hepworth and Peter Lanyon. These artists would later establish the Modernist movement. During this time, he penned the biography for Alfred Wallis, the first profile to be written on the artist, published in 1949 and still in print today. Berlin did eventually join the Army, taking part in the D-Day landings. Returning to St Ives after a breakdown, Berlin divorced Helga and met his second wide Juanita Fisher in 1949. Berlin set up his new studio in ‘The Tower’ next to Porthwidden Beach, and began carving stone sculptures outside, including the Mermaid and Angel in 1948, and The Lion which was commissioned for the St. Austell Brewery. Berlin frequently exhibited paintings, drawings, and sculptures with the St. Ives Society of Artists. In London, Berlin was a founding member of the Crypt Group along with Peter Lanyon and John Wells, also members of the St Ives artistic group. A flamboyant and outspoken personality, Berlin did not get on well with many of his peers. Following a conflict between the St. Ives Society of Artists, the Crypt Group and the Penwith Society, Berlin was ostracised from the art colony and relocated to the New Forest in 1953. Here Berlin produced some of his most established work using animals as a source of inspiration. 1962 was a hard year for Berlin. His second wife Juanita left him for their groom Fergus Casey and the disputes which had led him to leave Cornwall inspired Berlin to write The Dark Monarch, an embittered roman à clef about the St Ives art colony and its members. This was pulled within just days of publication due to legal action. Berlin received several lawsuits following his poorly disguised and damning representations, which crippled him financially. Berlin met his third wife Julia and moved to the Isle of Wight in 1970, later settling in Wimborne. Berlin remained a prolific painter, author, and sculptor right up until his death in 1999 at the age of 88. Though a difficult character, Sven Berlin remains an undeniably important figure in the genesis of the Modern art movement in St Ives and deserves much more recognition than he has at present. Like Elizabeth Frink, another great artist from the period, the excellence displayed in his sculptures goes hand in hand with these beautiful preparatory line drawings. Exhibiting an easiness of execution, his works on paper show a flair and confidence that very few can claim to have mastered.
  • Creator:
    Sven Berlin (1911 - 1999, British)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 8 in (20.32 cm)Width: 4.63 in (11.77 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    In good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Petworth, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU540311360462

More From This Seller

View All
Cornish, St. Ives artist Sven Berlin drawing 'White bird', pen and ink on paper
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) White bird Pen and ink Signed with monogram, inscribed and dated `WHITE BIRD SclPT MY 87 SB’ (lower middle) 12.3/4 x 7.3/4 in. (32.3 x 19.7 cm.) S...
Category

20th Century Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

British, St. Ives artist Sven Berlin ink drawing 'Heron Swallowing Fish'
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) Heron Swallowing Fish, a study for a sculpture Pen and ink Signed with monogram, inscribed and dated `HERON SWALLOWING F...
Category

20th Century Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Alpaca by Sven Berlin, Modern British artist, St. Ives school, drawing
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) The alpaca herd Pen, ink and bodycolour on paper 14.1/8 x 14.1/8 in. (36 x 36 cm.) (18) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, ...
Category

20th Century Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Sven Berlin, Cornish St. Ives artist, 20th Century 'Pegasus' drawing
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) Pegasus Pen and ink on paper laid down on card 11 x 7.7/8 in. (28 x 20 cm.) (16) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London ...
Category

20th Century Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Modern British, 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, 'Equus' drawing
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) Equus Pen and ink 7.7/8 x 12.3/4 in. (19.7 x 32.4 cm.) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London on 14th September 1911, was an English painter, draug...
Category

20th Century Romantic Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

An original British 20th Century drawing by British illustrator Heath Robinson
By William Heath Robinson
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
William Heath Robinson (British, 1872-1944) 'The Friendly Dog' Signed 'W. Heath Robinson.' (lower right) Pen and ink on paper 11 X 8.1/2in. (28 X 21.7cm.) (excluding frame) 46 x 38cm. (18.1/4 x 15in. (including frame) Literature: 'Old Time Stories', Constable and Co. 1921, P. 143 William Heath Robinson was an artist and illustrator mainly associated with his gloriously complicated inventions for simple objectives. The name Heath Robinson has become commonplace in the English language as a result to describe anything mechanical that is eccentric, ridiculously complex and ingenious at the same time . Interestingly one of the automatic analysis machines built for Bletchley Park...
Category

Early 20th Century Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

You May Also Like

Bull, Inspired by the Spain Bull Fighting, Ink on paper, Black, White "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Untitled - 10 x 7 inches (unframed size) Pen and Ink on Paper Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Spectacular Bull by the Famous Indian Master Artist Sunil Das;...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Horse, Drawing, Ink on Paper, Black, Grey by Indian Artist Sunil Das "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Horse - 8 x 5 inches (unframed size) Ink on Paper ( Unframed & Delivered ) Sunil Das was one of India's most important postmodernist painters and rose to prominence thro...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Galloping Horse, Ink, Pen Drawing on Paper, Black & White by Sunil Das"In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Untitled - 8 x 8.25 inches (unframed size) Pen and Ink on Paper Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Figures, female torsos in frontal nudity, a crouching cow an...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Horse, Drawing, Ink on Paper, Brown, Black by Modern Indian Artist "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Horse - 9.5 x 7 inches (unframed size) Ink on Paper Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Sunil Das was one of India's most important postmodernist painters and r...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Ganesha, Hindu God, Pen Drawing, Brown by Sunil Das "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Ganesha - 9 x 7 inches (unframed size) Pen Drawing Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. It is not easy to figure out the mask-like face with a long coiling snout not unlike that of an elephant's trunk. But Sunil has added details to make it look unlike the face of the well-known animal-headed Hindu god...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Horse Doodles, Pen & Ink on Paper by PadmaShree Artist Sunil Das "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - 8.5 x 9 inches (unframed size) Ink on Paper Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Sunil Das (1939-2015) was a Master Modern Indian Artist from Bengal. Extremely s...
Category

2010s Modern Animal Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Recently Viewed

View All