Carl Eldh

Carl Eldh
Bertil Norberg, Public domain

The sculptor behind the Strindberg Monument.

Carl Eldh made The Runners at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium and the great Strindberg Monument in Tegnérlunden. His studio is now a museum.

Carl Eldh was born in 1873 in Film in northern Uppland, near Österbybruk. He started out as a woodcarver and worked on ornament before he had the chance to study sculpture. In 1896 he went to Paris, where he stayed for about seven years and studied at the Académie Colarossi, among other places.

In Paris he was influenced by Rodin and French realist sculpture. After returning home he quickly became one of Sweden’s leading sculptors. His strength lay in depicting the naked body in movement and tension.

Among his best-known works is The Runners of 1937, a group of naked runners that stands at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. He also made sculptures for Stockholm City Hall, including portrait statues of August Strindberg, Gustaf Fröding and Ernst Josephson. The Branting Monument on Norra Bantorget in Stockholm was unveiled in 1952.

His largest commission was the Strindberg Monument in Tegnérlunden in Stockholm. He worked on it for many years, and the proposal featuring a naked titan sparked lively debate. The monument was unveiled in 1942.

In 1919 Eldh was given a studio in Bellevueparken in Stockholm, designed by the architect Ragnar Östberg. He worked there until his death in 1954. The studio is now a museum, the Carl Eldh Studio Museum, and shows his works in the setting where they were created.