Carsten Ström 1913-1995

Carsten Christian Ström was born in Malmö on 13th November 1913. He was a Swedish painter, ceramicist, illustrator and children's author.

Carsten was the brother of the artist and animator Sixten Bernhard Ström (1904-1979). He married Elizabeth Ludvigsson in 1940.

Ström attended the The Reimann School of Art and Design in Berlin in 1935 - The Reimann School was a private art school which was founded in 1902 by Albert Reimann, and re-established in Pimlico, London in 1937 after persecution by the Nazis. It was the first commercial art school in Britain.

Ström then worked as a sign painter at Christenson & Co. sign factory Malmö - where he designed the original sign to the Malmo City Theatre, before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) in Copenhagen between 1947 and 1948 where he studied under the Danish artist Kræsten Iversen (1886-1955). Ström made trips to Paris (in 1948) and Spain (in 1954).

Ström had solo exhibitions at Malmö City Hall (1945 and 1952), at the SDS-hallen in Malmö (1951). From 1941 he exhibited at several of the annual Autumn Salons organised by the Skånes Artists Union and in 1953 he exhibited alongside the potter Elsi Bourelius in Trelleborg and Ljungbyhed, southern Sweden.

Ström then moved to Abbekås, a fishing village in southern Sweden situated between Ystad and Trelleborgthe and opened his own ceramics business, Abbekås Ceramics. He also wrote and illustrated five children's books, most notably 'Gummiguttas nya hus' (Gummiguttas new house) in 1954. He was member of the Artists' National Organization (Konstnärernas Riksorganisation), the Skåne artist Club (Skånska Konstnärsklubben) and the Association of Swedish cartoonist.

Carsten Ström died in Malmö on 2nd September 1995 at the age of 81.