SoniaJul 24, 2021Moths and flamesThe discovery of previously unpublished brush works by Hokusai, on show at The British Museum, inspires a few words on one of Sven...
SoniaJul 11, 2021Be brave in colourInevitably a style of painting speaks of an artist’s frame of mind or circumstances and I was pondering this while cataloguing the work...
SoniaJun 12, 2021Cockerels and WagtailsSven painted and illustrated all kinds of birds, but cockerels had a special place throughout his life. He would draw the Gypsies’ pet...
SoniaJun 12, 2021Sven on drawingOne of Sven’s most interesting essays is his Notes on the Experience of Drawing for Young People, written for his grand-daughter Tanya,...
SoniaJun 10, 2021Sven and the Lee familySven Berlin was visited by the Lee family and painted Cliff, the knife grinder and his son Ken.
SoniaMay 14, 2021Dancing 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.
SoniaMay 10, 2021Remembering Shave GreenThere are some remarkable images of the Shave Green Gypsies in the New Forest in the 1940s and 1950s. It is especially interesting to...
SoniaApr 29, 2021Dark Monarch reflectionsSome fascinating insight relating to the publication of Sven Berlin’s now infamous book The Dark Monarch has come from Toni Carver,...
SoniaApr 29, 2021Freedom to dream...Berlin often returned to the image of figures sleeping, embodying what he referred to as his ‘floating dreams’. The Dreamers, a pencil...