Jürgen Von Konow (1915-1959)

Born in Östersund, Sweden in he studied at the Royal Institute of Art (Kungliga Konsthögskolan) in Stockholm. On the advice of his tutors he moved to Paris and studied art at the Académie Scandinave which was established in 1926 by Helena Börjeson. This formed part of her Maison Watteau artists' community that she had established in 1918 to encourage students from Scandinavia to learn under the tutelage of French teachers and to expose Scandinavian artists to a larger European audience.

 Konow remained in Paris after the Maison Watteau closed in 1935 and continued his studies at Marcel Gromaire's studio, a renowned painter of Social Realism, in the late 1930s. He then attended Stanley William Hayter's first printmaking studio, Atelier Dix-Sept at 17 Rue Campagne-Première in Paris.  Hayter founded Atelier Dix-Sept, in the late 1920's in Paris; a printmaking studio that was also home to such significant artists as Miro, Pollack, and Calder. Hayter associated closely with the Surrealists and Surrealism during the 1930's. During the war, Hayter moved (the re-named) Atelier 17 to New York (in 1940), where it became an important meeting place for both European and American artists. It was in the United States that he was first exposed to Abstract Expressionism. In 1950 Atelier 17 was re-established again back in Paris where Von Konow remained with the studio until 1957.

 Having been heavily influenced by Hayter and his printing techniques and the publication of his 'A New Way of Gravure' (1949), Von Konow returned to Sweden and published his own handbook on printmaking techniques 'Om grafik: Historia och Teknik' in 1958. A book that made an important contribution to the teachings of graphic design and printmaking in Sweden.

 During the late 1950's Von Konow became a teaching assistant at the Art Academy in Sweden. He died at the early age of 44 in Sweden.