Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Sven Berlin
British 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Self Portrait, pen and ink

About the Item

Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) Self-portrait Pen and ink 14.1/2 x 14.1/2 in. (36.7 x 36.7 cm.) 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 Ilse 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: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Width: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Creases, one in particular through lower middle which should be easily fixed, in good overall condition, recently reframed with a crisp white mount, behind glass in a white wood moulding.
  • Gallery Location:
    Petworth, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU540311033962

More From This Seller

View All
A portrait of John Ruskin by British artist B. C. Leeming, 1901
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
B. C. Leeming (British, circa 1901) A Portrait of John Ruskin Ink Signed and dated ' B C Leeming 01’ (lower left) 13 x 10.1/4 in. (33 x 26 cm.). Provenance: Collection of James S D...
Category

20th Century English School Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Pastel 1916 portrait of 'Zoum', the artist's daughter sleeping by Eeckhoudt
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
A beautiful early 20th Century profile portrait by the Belgian artist Jean van den Eeckhoudt of his daughter Zoum, drawn 1916. This special work is from the artist's studio. Zoum E...
Category

20th Century Post-Impressionist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

20th Century drawing of William Docker Drysdale by Gilbert Spencer
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Gilbert Spencer RA, RWS, NEAC (British, 1892-1959) Portrait of William Dockar Drysdale pencil Signed and dated `Gilbert Spencer/ 1949’ (lower right) 15...
Category

20th Century Academic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Giovanni Boldini drawing of a lady, Italian 19th Century
By Giovanni Boldini
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Giovanni Boldini (Italian, 1842-1931) Etude de femme au ruban noir Signed with atelier stamp (lower left), further inscribed, signed and dated by Emilia Boldini (the artist’s wife) `no 77 le_ atelier Boldini. Emilia Boldini Carbona 1931’ (on the reverse) Black crayon on paper 11.7/8 x 8.7/8 in. (30 x 22.5 cm.) Emilia’s inscription on the reverse from the year of his death. Giovanni Boldini was an Italian genre and portrait painter who lived and worked in Paris for most of his career. According to Time magazine, he was known as the "Master of Swish" because of his flowing style, exemplified by the confident strokes in this fine example. Boldini was born in Ferrara, the son of a painter of religious subjects, and in 1862 went to Florence for six years to study and pursue painting. He only infrequently attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts, but in Florence, met other realist painters known as the Macchiaioli, who were Italian precursors to Impressionism. Their influence is seen in Boldini's landscapes which show his spontaneous response to nature, although it is for his portraits that he became best known. Moving to London, Boldini attained success as a portraitist, painting notable members of society including Lady Holland and the Duchess of Westminster...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Crayon

1903 portrait drawing by Marie Laurencin of her mother
By Marie Laurencin
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Marie Laurencin (French, 1885 – 1956) Portraits of Pauline Laurencin, the artist’s mother with a further study of a child on the reverse Pencil and pastel on paper Signed and dated ‘...
Category

Early 20th Century Post-Impressionist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Pencil

Marie Laurencin portrait drawing of her mother, 1903
By Marie Laurencin
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Marie Laurencin (French, 1885 – 1956) Portrait of Pauline Laurencin, the artist’s mother, circa 1903 Black crayon on paper Inscribed ‘Despair and die / not die’ (upper right) 6.5/8 x...
Category

Early 20th Century Post-Impressionist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Crayon

You May Also Like

Hand-Me-Downs - Street Children - Waif - Cockney Gutter Imps.
Located in Miami, FL
19th Century Street Art - British children's book author and illustrator Edith Farmiloe depicts a waif-like girl - Cockney Gutter Imp - who is disheveled. The artist draws her i...
Category

Early 1900s Romantic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

J'ai enfoncé Jalouret!
By Paul Gavarni (Guillaume Sulpice Chevalier)
Located in BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, FR
Caractéristique de la production de Gavarni, ce dessin est à rapprocher de plusieurs autres portraits-charges représentant des personnages masculins en pied dans la même posture, deb...
Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Paul Gavarni (1804-1866) The Puppeteer, "Janvier", original signed drawing
By Paul Gavarni
Located in Paris, FR
Paul Gavarni (1804-1866) The Puppeteer, Study for "Janvier" Signed lower left Pen and black ink, black ink wash on paper 28 x 20 cm In good condition except some stains particularly ...
Category

1860s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Study for a Seated Woman (by leader of "Southern Art Renaissance")
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this wonderful pen-and-ink are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the turn of the 20th century sparked an arts renaissance in the South, the arts and culture in general having been mostly moribund since the dispiriting defeat experienced in the Civil War. I won't bog you down with lots of detail here since all you have to do is Google his name to bring up a wealth of information about him. He is most famous for his leadership of the arts program at Newcomb College in New Orleans, and its famous Newcomb Pottery...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Seated Young Lady (by leader of "Southern Art Renaissance") - Antique Drawing
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this pen-and-ink of a pretty Edwardian-era lady are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Gentleman with Mustache (by leader of "Southern Art Renaissance") - Antique
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the turn of the 20th century sparked an arts renaissance in the South, the arts and culture in general having been mostly moribund since the dispiriting defeat experienced in the Civil War. I won't bog you down with lots of detail here since all you have to do is Google his name to bring up a wealth of information about him. He is most famous for his leadership of the arts program at Newcomb College in New Orleans, and its famous Newcomb Pottery...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Recently Viewed

View All