• Visionary. Innovator. Artist.

     

    Wiwen Nilsson’s journey from an apprentice in his father's workshop to an internationally renowned artist is one defined by curiosity, talent and resilience. The foundation for his unique and consistent artistic vision was his commitment to traditional artisanal methods and the highest quality of craftsmanship.

  • Early life

    In 1897, shortly after Wiwen Nilsson’s birth in Copenhagen, Denmark, the family crossed the Öresund strait and returned to Lund, Sweden. In Lund, his father Anders Nilsson took over the workshop of Johan Petter Hasselgren, for whom he had earlier been an apprentice. In 1908, Anders Nilsson was appointed Royal Court Jeweler to the Swedish Royal Court. 

     

    As a schoolboy, Wiwen Nilsson was already preoccupied with physical space, with proportions and dimensions. As he later described it: “On my way to school ... I would walk down a long street and a narrow smaller street. I saw everything three-dimensionally, I saw the room. I perceived the room as a problem, a problem that I wanted to solve.” He began working in his father’s workshop at the age of 14.

    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop
    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.

  • In 1913, Wiwen Nilsson moved to Hanau, Germany, to study drawing, engraving, and hammering techniques at the Königliche Zeichenakademie (The Royal Drawing Academy). Following the outbreak of World War I, he returned to Sweden and worked for his father. However, during the first quarter of 1917, he was able to continue his studies abroad, this time at Det Tekniske Selskabs Skole (The Technical Society's School) in Copenhagen, Denmark. From 1920–1921, he returned to Hanau to continue his studies at the Königliche Zeichenakademie. While in Hanau, Wiwen Nilsson befriended fellow student, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, later a Bauhaus student and celebrated designer; it was a friendship that would continue after their studies ended. In 1922, Wiwen Nilsson travelled back to Sweden to work in his father’s workshop where he became its artistic designer, undertaking his first public assignments.  

     

    In May 1924, Wiwen Nilsson enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France, where he explored life drawing and anatomy. During his time in Paris, he learned the technical foundations for modelling in the atelier of the sculptor Arvid Källström, and chiseled at the atelier of the silversmith Georg Jensen. Wiwen Nilsson also dedicated considerable time to self-motivated study at museums and libraries, including Le Louvre and Musée de Cluny.

    Wiwen Nilsson sculpting in Arvid Källström’s atelier in Paris, 1924.
    Wiwen Nilsson sculpting in Arvid Källström’s atelier in Paris, 1924.

  • In Paris, he befriended a group of fellow Swedish artists including Arvid Källström, Erik Olson and Gösta Adrian-Nilsson, known as GAN. “To my surprise, I met a philosopher with a clearly articulated theoretical worldview,” GAN reflected on their first meetings. He described Wiwen Nilsson as holding a “receptive artistic nature – a sharp, clear, ice-cold brain”. Some of Wiwen Nilsson’s friends in Paris, including Erik Olson, were students at Fernand Léger’s art school the Académie Moderne. Some artists also lived in the building where the school was located, including Isaac Grünewald,  Arvid Källström, GAN, and for a period of time, Wiwen Nilsson himself. 

     

    Wiwen Nilsson’s formative years and international experiences exposed him to diverse artistic, philosophical and cultural influences, enriching his creative palette and shaping his art and design philosophy.

    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.
    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.

  • Career

    Wiwen Nilsson made his professional debut in 1923 at Jubileumsutställningen i Göteborg (The Gothenburg Tercentennial Jubilee Exposition), Sweden, exhibiting designs created for his father’s company, A. Nilsson. His works received harsh criticism. One critic, describing Wiwen Nilsson’s works, wrote: “as thin and fragile as glass, a typical case of poor sense of materials”. Another wrote that his works were “frankly ugly” with a third noting that his pieces were composed of “meaningless cone shapes”.

     

    Years later in an interview, Wiwen Nilsson reflected on this early critical reception: “At that time there were no plain silver objects anywhere in the world,” he said. “A bowl, a vase, a casket was not allowed to be what it should be – a bowl, a vase, a casket. Rather, these would take the shape of a woman’s body or a flower’s calyx.”

    Career
    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.

  • “He is an arts and craftsman – but theoretically he is an artist in his entire conception of life and of art ...” Gösta Adrian-Nilsson

  • “What our time sorely needs amid this blend of good and bad, old and new, genuine and imitated, is nothing short of a constructive idea that will help us find a design ethos that corresponds to our way of life.” Wiwen Nilsson

  • But international recognition would soon follow; at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) in Paris, Wiwen Nilsson was awarded a Médaille d'Or (Gold Medal) for arts and crafts. Gregor Paulsson, the president of the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design and a respected art historian, curated the fair, and would become an important person for Wiwen Nilsson and his recognition in Sweden as well as internationally. Following his success in Paris, Wiwen Nilsson was invited to exhibit in New York at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1926, and from 1926–1928 his works were exhibited at several other important institutions in the USA, including The Minneapolis Institute of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago. During this time his pieces received great acclaim among art critics. With these exhibitions, his international recognition was established, and in the years and decades that followed, his works would be continuously exhibited on the international stage.

     

    Art historian Åke Stavenow wrote in 1926 that “Wiwen Nilsson attempts to launch a purely modernist style ... As with most new styles, Wiwen Nilsson’s pieces have attracted both opposition and recognition.”

     

    Wiwen Nilsson and his work continued to divide opinion in Sweden, but not at the expense of praise and recognition. In 1927, he assumed ownership of his father’s company, which gave him full creative freedom, and in 1928 he was appointed Royal Court Jeweler to the Swedish Royal Court.

     

    It was in 1930 that Wiwen Nilsson’s work became truly lauded in Sweden. At Stockholmsutställningen (The Stockholm Exhibition), his designs garnered critical acclaim, with critics hailing his “spartan disdain” for ornamentation, celebrating the precision of his craftsmanship, and suggesting that Wiwen Nilsson had “driven simplicity to its peak but also to the height of refinement”. It was at this exhibition that Wiwen Nilsson introduced a new cutlery design and jewellery designed with what would become one of his trademark materials – rock crystal. Here, he also introduced the cross in his jewellery designs, which up until this point had been solely a manifestation of Christian faith in Sweden. His jewellery collections were subsequently exhibited internationally, including at Dorland House in London, UK in 1931, the Venice Biennale in Italy in 1934, the Paris World Exhibition in France in 1937, and the New York World's Fair in the USA in 1939.

    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.
    Wiwen Nilsson’s workshop.

  • In the 1940s, Wiwen Nilsson’s work was exhibited at the Orrefors Galleries in Manhattan, New York, following his participation at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It was during this decade that Wiwen Nilsson received broad recognition. In a midtown shop, his jewellery was on display alongside Orrefors glassware and sculptures by Carl Milles.

     

    In the years that followed, he continued to exhibit in Sweden and internationally. The curator Erik Wettergren described Wiwen Nilsson as the “herald of pure simplicity,” stating that with “the circle, the cube, the cylinder, the cone, he has formed his syntax”.

    Wiwen Nilsson and his son, Tore, 1957.
    Wiwen Nilsson and his son, Tore, 1957.
  • Wiwen Nilsson at his desk, n.d. Photo: Wiwen Nilsson Estate
    Wiwen Nilsson at his desk.
    The 1950s began auspiciously for Wiwen Nilsson, receiving the Medaglia d’Oro (The Gold Medal) at the IX Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy in 1951. He would return three years later for the X Triennale di Milano. During the 50s and 60s, he participated in exhibitions across Europe, the UK and North America. He received important recognition and awards in Sweden including the Gregor Paulsson Prize, the Swedish State’s Artist Award and the Prince Eugen Medal for artistic merit, conferred by the King of Sweden.

  • “Wiwen Nilsson’s originality is likely difficult for most people to recognise, as it has never been his goal to achieve an extreme visual language. The results he has achieved are rather an expression of a life philosophy than merely a conception of art and should be seen as such.” Gösta Adrian-Nilsson

  • Photo: Wiwen Nilsson Estate
    Wiwen Nilsson with a vase.

    During this time, he developed many innovative designs and works including reliefs and sculptures based on his drawings from the 1920s. He designed a complex new method for setting gemstones in jewellery, with a specially designed bezel that positioned the stone high above the band, making it appear to hover above the wearer’s finger. In his religious works, Wiwen Nilsson showcased his ability to combine academic rigour and respect for tradition with his artistic vision and commitment to functionality. For example, he referenced biblical texts to design a Communion vessel that sought to improve the aesthetics and hygiene of the service. Wiwen Nilsson’s impact on the Swedish arts and crafts movement was solidified at the 1956 exhibition at Liljevalchs Konsthall (Liljevalchs Art Gallery) in Stockholm, Sweden, staged by the Craftsmen’s Guild in celebration of its 50th anniversary. The ten selected exhibitors were each given an honorary room, and recognised as the artists who had “laid the foundation for Sweden’s modern Arts and Crafts and Art industry”. Wiwen Nilsson was the youngest member of the collective.

     

    In connection with King Gustaf VI Adolf’s eightieth birthday in 1962, the Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander presented the King with a “Gift from the Nation”, delivered in a casket made by Wiwen Nilsson.

     

    During Wiwen Nilsson’s later years, two important retrospective exhibitions were organised to honour his influential career: one at Kulturen in Lund in 1967 around the time of his seventieth birthday; the other at Malmö Museum in 1973.

  • “Most personal and consistent in his design is undoubtedly Wiwen Nilsson, who has driven simplicity to its peak but also to the height of refinement.” Gotthard Johansson

  • Legacy
    Wiwen Nilsson outside the shop in Lund.

    Legacy

    In 1947 composer Sten Broman said of his friend: “With cutting logic and pragmatism, plus a few ‘patented’ words that can break down even the sturdiest of arguments, he completely dismantles the opponent's arguments.” Described by Gregor Paulsson as “a learned man, philosophically as well as theologically”, Wiwen Nilsson was renowned for his academic rigour. “There are three figures I hold before all others,” he said in a 1971 interview, “Christ Pantocrator, Meister Eckhart and Dostoevskij”.

     

    “The Man in the White Suit” – a moniker attributed to his customary linen attire in Spring – was much respected, appreciated and loved for his passion and generosity by his family, friends and peers. Many recalled the joy, warmth and energy he brought into any room he entered. Wiwen Nilsson was, as the painter Erik Olson described him, a “valuable acquaintance, a man who deviates significantly from the crowd”.

     

    Wiwen Nilsson’s artistic vision was prodigious in its simplicity: he advocated for silver and gold objects to retain their intrinsic qualities rather than being excessively adorned, even when the prevailing trend was to embellish. “Silver and the flat surface have their own beauty and style, their own way of expression,” he said. “It is just a matter of finding the right means of expression.”

     

    He applied his consistent artistic language to all mediums, including creations to be used in a religious context. “First and foremost I want to bring out a strong and vibrant rhythm in the body (the structure) itself”, he declared. While Wiwen Nilsson’s most notable achievement to many is the creation of the Colombian mahogany altar cross with gilded silver reliefs in the Lund Cathedral in Sweden, he is widely known for his silverware and jewellery.

  • “If you hear him talk about his favourite subjects, you will find a man who moves on a strangely philosophical level, who constantly has philosophical or mathematical terms at hand, who observes life from a certain theoretical position.” Ernst Norlind

  • Pushing the boundaries of traditional silversmithing, jewellery, art and design, Wiwen Nilsson left a lasting impact and inspired future generations...
    Wiwen Nilsson, 1959.

    Pushing the boundaries of traditional silversmithing, jewellery, art and design, Wiwen Nilsson left a lasting impact and inspired future generations of artists and designers to embrace artisanal methods, quality craftsmanship, and the integration of artistry and functionality into their creations. His dynamic, cubist, geometric art form and designs have become synonymous with his name, and have solidified his reputation as one of the most influential figures in Swedish silversmithing and design history.

     

    “There will never be another Wiwen Nilsson”, wrote the art historian Gregor Paulsson when Wiwen Nilsson passed away on January 8 1974.

  • “He was the serious prophet, the deadly logician, and the committed conversationalist. He created works rooted in time but timeless in their harmonious perfection.” Kersti Holmqvist

  • “So much is said about beauty, yet we must not forget about substance and authenticity. These are two sides of the same coin. Form without precision can no more produce a convincing result, than precision devoid of a sense of form can produce an object of art.” Wiwen Nilsson

  • Back to top