François Portin 1916-2021

Frans Peter (François) Portin was the son of the well known Swedish artist Karl (Charles) Edvard Portin (1889-1980).

Very little was known about François Portin until a chance discovery of his works in 2021.

François Portin was born in Paris in 1935. His parents, Charles Portin and Hildegard Wiegand had been studying in Paris under Marcel Gromaire (1892-1971) and Fernand Léger (1881-1951). They moved back to Sweden at the outbreak of WW2.

François Portin grew up in Sweden and worked as a postman in the Östermalm district of Stockholm. Just before François Portin died, a collection of books and magazines was left at the Myrorna second hand store in Ropsten. Myrorna is a chain of second hand shops - run by the Swedish arm of The Salvation Army.

Along with the books was a collection of over 100 of his works - everything from sketches and pencil drawings to gouaches, pastels, collages, linoleum cuts and watercolours - all unframed and stored in a box. These works were subsequently sold at auction by Crafoord Auktioner, Stockholm in December 2021 with all proceeds donated to Myrorna

He was a member of the Swedish Artists' Association (Konstnärernas Riksorganisation).

François Portin died in January 2021, aged 85.