Biography
1926 Born on 6 June in Östra Sallerup, Scania/Skåne
1942 Skånska Målarskolan, Malmö
1945 Otte Sköld’s painting school, Stockholm
1946–1950 The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm
1947 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
1954 Debut at Galerie Blanche, Stockholm, solo exhibition
1955 Awarded the X-et scholarship
1958 Galerie Blanche, Stockholm, solo exhibition
1959 Bienal Internaçional de São Paulo, São Paulo, group exhibition
1960 Professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm. Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm
1961 La Biennale de Paris, Manifestation des Jeune Artistes, Paris, group exhibition
1962 Images from Frosta Shire, Galerie Burén, Stockholm, solo exhibition
1964 La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, solo exhibition
1966 Abstract Sculptures and Realistic Portraits, Galerie Burén, Stockholm, solo exhibition
Leaves his professorship at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and moves to his childhood home in the south of Sweden, Benarp, Skåne.
1966–1972 Gives up painting.
1969 Redovisning 1969, Galleri Östergren, Malmö, group exhibition
1977 Sammanfattningar 1962–76, Galerie Burén, Stockholm, solo exhibition
1979 Ur dagens läge (Skåne), Galleri Händer, Stockholm, group exhibition
1981 Sextant. Six artistes suédois contemporains, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, group exhibition
1983 Bienal Internaçional de São Paulo, São Paulo, group exhibition
1986 Retrospective, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, solo exhibition
1987 Retrospective, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, solo exhibition
1990 Tretton samtida, Waldemarsudde, Stockholm, group exhibition
1994 Awarded the Friends of Moderna Museet artist grant of SEK 100,000 for “his paintings in the realist style, demonstrating great originality and intensity and for following his own path consistently and perseveringly for four decades”.
Galleri Lars Bohman, Stockholm, group exhibition
1995 Donates 25 of his works from 1961–1985 to Malmö Konstmuseum.
Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, solo exhibition
1997 The Louisiana Exhibition 1997 Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, group exhibition
Awarded the Rolf Schock visual arts prize, “for his rare artistic integrity and strong poetic style”. Northern Lights. Gathering Light, Moderna Museet’s International programme, Riksutställningar, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne; Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney; Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth; Flinders University Art Gallery, Adelaide; The Arts Gallery, Singapore; Båtsmanskasernen, Karlskrona; Konstens Hus, Luleå; Västerås Konstmuseum, Västerås; Sandvikens Konsthall, Sandviken; Vikingsbergs Konstmuseum, Helsingborg; Gotlands
Konstmuseum, Visby; Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, group exhibition
1998 Awarded third prize in the Carnegie Art Award 1998 for “his painting, which opens up new roads with uncompromising radicality for this artistic medium with its historical legacy. For feeling necessary and reliable, and for being entirely without aesthetic affectation.”
Carnegie Art Award 1998, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm; Sophienholm, Lyngby; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo; Kunsthalle Helsinki, Helsinki; The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, group exhibition
1999 Zeitwenden, Kunstmuseum Bonn, group exhibition
2000 Century of innocence: the history of the white monochrome, Rooseum, Malmö, group exhibition
Konkret: Rörelser i nordisk konst under 1900-talet, Dansmuseet, Stockholm, group exhibition
2002 The Identity Frieze, Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, solo exhibition
Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening/Swedish Association for Art, Stockholm, solo exhibition
2003 Zeno X Gallery, Antwerpen, solo exhibition
2003 Moderna Museet at Malmö Konsthall, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, group exhibition
2004 Åmells, London, solo exhibition
2006 Brändström & Stene, Stockholm, solo exhibition
2006 The Moderna Exhibition 2006, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, group exhibition
2007 Founds the Torsten Andersson Foundation on 4 January.
Awarded first prize in the Carnegie Art Award 2008 with the motivation “Torsten Andersson is awarded the Carnegie prize of SEK 1,000,000 for his matchless oeuvre of painting that consolidates two absolute opposites, the general and the personal. Torsten Andersson has worked indefatigably over 40 years to formulate this paradox, a personal language. The paintings he exhibits prove that he has succeeded! The result is energetic, wonderfully material and absolutely unique!”
Carnegie Art Award 2008, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden; Den Frie Udstilling, Copenhagen; Kópavogur Art Museum, Gerðarsafn, Kópavogur; The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm; The Royal College of Art, London; Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg, group exhibition
2008 Carnegie Art Award 2008, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden; Den Frie Udstilling, Köpenhamn; Kópavogur Art Museum, Gerðarsafn, Kópavogur; Konstakademien, Stockholm; The Royal College of Art, London; Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Göteborg, grupputställning
2009 Died on 30 May in Benarp, Skåne.