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More on macaws
Sven Berlin pen and ink self portrait Man with Macaw
Sonia
Feb 7, 2022


Going to the zoo..oo...oo
Sven Berlin visited London Zoo to enable him to draw more exotic creatures for Anthony Dent's book Animals that changed the world
Sonia
Feb 7, 2022


New Year musings
Sven Berlin was rarely idle during the winter, however harsh, and each New Year brought renewed ambition. In 1946, as reported in The...
Sonia
Dec 31, 2021
Autumn Magic
How wonderful to see the colours of late summer/early autumn at the Chelsea Flower Show. Sometimes serendipity makes us look at a regular...
Sonia
Oct 9, 2021


Sunshine superman
Happy memories of the 1960s come flooding back looking at this amazing Sven Berlin portrait Guy in Hippy Gear. Those bell bottoms!...
Sonia
Sep 1, 2021


Iconic Lion
Perhaps the most iconic photograph of Sven Berlin is that taken by Murray Hardy in 1946 of the bare-chested sculptor carving his Portland...
Sonia
Aug 18, 2021


Moths and flames
The discovery of previously unpublished brush works by Hokusai, on show at The British Museum, inspires a few words on one of Sven...
Sonia
Jul 24, 2021


Be brave in colour
Inevitably a style of painting speaks of an artist’s frame of mind or circumstances and I was pondering this while cataloguing the work...
Sonia
Jul 11, 2021


Cockerels and Wagtails
Sven painted and illustrated all kinds of birds, but cockerels had a special place throughout his life. He would draw the Gypsies’ pet...
Sonia
Jun 12, 2021


Sven on drawing
One of Sven’s most interesting essays is his Notes on the Experience of Drawing for Young People, written for his grand-daughter Tanya,...
Sonia
Jun 12, 2021


Sven and the Lee family
Sven Berlin was visited by the Lee family and painted Cliff, the knife grinder and his son Ken.
Sonia
Jun 10, 2021


Dancing with Sven
Memories of Sven Berlin in St. Ives from Suzanne Newton, now aged 92, when she was on holiday and they danced at the St. Ives Art Club.
Sonia
May 14, 2021


Remembering Shave Green
There are some remarkable images of the Shave Green Gypsies in the New Forest in the 1940s and 1950s. It is especially interesting to...
Sonia
May 10, 2021


Dark Monarch reflections
Some fascinating insight relating to the publication of Sven Berlin’s now infamous book The Dark Monarch has come from Toni Carver,...
Sonia
Apr 29, 2021


Freedom to dream...
Berlin often returned to the image of figures sleeping, embodying what he referred to as his ‘floating dreams’. The Dreamers, a pencil...
Sonia
Apr 29, 2021


Connecting with the Earth
Augustus John described the work of Mary Jewels as 'remarkable in the intensity of their earth feeling' (Vogue/The Woman Artist/August...
Sonia
Apr 22, 2021


New Forest sunsets
Stunning sunsets in the New Forest are especially memorable at all times of year. Sven Berlin often drew comparison with the changing...
Sonia
Apr 7, 2021


Ancient Mariner
Sven was one of many artists to interpret Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and I was reminded of this and Berlin’s...
Sonia
Mar 8, 2021


Songs of the Open Road
Sven Berlin was very supportive of the New Forest Gypsies and their culture as he demonstrated in his book Dromengro: Man of the Road. Inter
Sonia
Feb 19, 2021


Timeless Man review
Always good to read an inspiring review and many thanks to Toni Carver, Proprietor of the St. Ives Times and Echo for his permission to repr
Sonia
Feb 13, 2021
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