Nils Möllerberg, Boxaren (The Boxer)

Nils Möllerberg
Boxaren (The Boxer)

Nils Möllerberg (Swedish, 1892–1954) was to all intents and purposes an autodidact. He never studied at an art academy but instead was apprenticed to older artists. During his long visit to Paris, 1919-1928, he did not enroll at any of the major sculptors’ schools. Instead he pursued self-tuition which he had done since he was a little boy and copied plaster ornaments at the technical school in Kristianstad or made models in clay after ancient artworks in books. In Paris he was influenced by the rich offerings at art galleries and museums. His encounter with the works of French sculptor Auguste Rodin may have been particularly important.

Boxaren (bronze, 1926, acquired 1944), which Möllerberg completed in Paris, is a fine example of how the artist managed to merge impressions from Antiquity with those from his contemporary French colleagues. The male figure has assumed a harmonious classical pose, a so-called contrapposto, but still looks very much alive with his broken nose and his 1920s hairstyle.