Jan Liljeqvist, born in 1932 in Stockholm, dead in 2003 in Ås, Jämtland, was a Swedish artist. He was known for his unique artistry, inspired by light and shadow, nature in nothern Sweden and urban night walks. The paintings have been exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, the Colour Factory in Stockholm and Jämtland’s Museum. He studied at San Fernando in Madrid, Spain, and later at the Academy of Florence, Italy. He also appeared in Paris during the 1960’s.

Jan Liljeqvist was the son of the artist Anders Liljeqvist (1889-1963) and his wife Dagmar.

He is buried at Ås Cemetery in Jämtland, Sweden.

 

Jan Liljeqvist on his artwork:

”Painting as a result of purely visual experiences, without any verbal philosophy, just what the eye sees. Capture and form with the use of colour. Visions that, themselves, speak so strongly that they inherently bear a message of art.

 

Shadows at dusk suddenly become alive. Tunnels with darkness pouring out of their silent openings. A tarpaulin that hides something unknown tightly encloses its secret. Guarding walls behind which unsuspected events occur.

 

An abandoned car on the street, stopped, staring hollow-eyed. At the gasworks, explosions of light enclosed by mute darkness. An auto graveyard where a tone of destruction bursts forth from the torn open doors of the metal skeletons. A person with claustrophobia seen inside an enclosed space. Seeing in the dark.

 

A facade whose colour shines dimly because it is lit by a distant light source, or a stairwell without electricity where one senses someone invisible in the darkness.

 

That which, in the state of being extinguished, for a moment touching eternity, has in its instinctive beauty a visionary power.”

 

Click here to read a longer article on Jan Liljeqvist’s life