Biography

Artist’s Bio

Lars Jonsson was born in 1952 in Sweden. He has painted birds since he was 4, and has been a professional artist since the age of 18. His favorite subjects are birds; his work also includes landscapes, portraits, plants, and large mammals. He has written and illustrated a field guide to the birds of Europe. His art has taken him to six continents. He has been included in Birds In Art at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum since 1982, and he was named Master Wildlife Artist there in 1987. He has published 11 books, including two covering his own art: “Birds and Light: The Art of Lars Jonsson” and “Lars Jonsson’s Birds: Pictures from a Near Horizon.” In 2004, he opened a museum in Southern Gotland, Sweden, where he resides.

Artist’s Statement

Art is about communication, and to be able to communicate your personal feelings and impressions of the subject you have to be honest and true to yourself. My personal way of reaching a point of true expression is painting in the field. It is by observing and sketching and painting in the field that I am able to formulate something that comes close to what I myself experience while watching wildlife. I try to capture the individual bird or animal, in a precise time and place in order to create absolute presence, in order to break up the barrier between me or us and the wild. It is only when I feel strongly connected to nature that I possibly can formulate something interesting. The urge to connect in a deeper sense with nature brings me to long hours of observing and sketching in the field. The pencil and brushes are my tools to formulate me as a human being, to hopefully touch upon the ancient and mysterious relationship between man and nature.