Björnar (Bears)

Arvid Knöppel has sculpted an adult bear with her cub that we can observe up close and completely risk-free. Knöppel is considered one of Sweden’s greatest animal artists. With a father who was a hunting enthusiast and friend of the nature artist Bruno Liljefors, Knöppel developed an early love of the forest and its inhabitants.

Knöppel lived from 1892 to 1970 and was well-known during his lifetime for both his sculptures and his drawings. As an adult, he bought a farm north of Arvika that came to be known as Knöppel Ridge. There, he arranged living models for his animal studies by building a sort of wildlife reserve or zoo for Swedish fauna. He had several types of deer on his property, including red, fallow and roe, as well as moose, foxes, roe deer, hares, wild geese, partridges, and a few lynxes.

In Knöppel’s sculptures, a simplified and somewhat austere design language coexists with a convincing naturalness. He has been called a master of capturing the movements of animals in the moment, but his sculptures have also been described as influenced by the angular profiles of ancient Egyptian art. While his sculptures can seem a bit archaically reserved, the drawings show fast and free sketches. His sculpture Hjortdjur (Deer) can be seen in Stadsparken and the municipality has over thirty original prints of his drawings in its collection.