Ragnar von Holten
Ragnar von Holten (1934–2009) was a Swedish art historian, painter, printmaker, book illustrator and museum curator. He was born in Gleiwitz, Silesia, and moved to Sweden in 1937 with his family who left Nazi Germany. After finishing school, he studied art history. A 1953 trip to Paris helped him get work on the artist Gustave Moreau, and he spent years traveling between Stockholm and Paris, becoming a bridge between French and Swedish surrealists. He joined the Surrealist circle around André Breton and spent time in Stockholm with artists such as Eric Grate, Endre Nemes, Gösta Kriland, Öyvind Fahlström and Thea Ekström.
In 1965 he defended his thesis on Gustave Moreau, and in 1969 he published Surrealism in Swedish Art, a work now considered a standard reference. That year he also became Associate Professor of Art History in Stockholm. He served as Senior Curator at the National Exhibition (1968–1982), Nationalmuseum (1982–1997) and Moderna Museet (1998–2000). From 1985 to 1988 he was director of the Swedish Institute in Paris. As an artist, he debuted in 1960 in Gothenburg and Lund, with surrealism as the main theme in both his art and his scholarship. In 2008 he had a major retrospective at Malmö Art Museum.
He died on 26 September 2009 in Stockholm. After his death, his art collection was donated to the Art Academy, and the proceeds from sales formed the Ragnar von Holten Memorial Fund to support promising artists.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:57 (CET).