Sculpture "Tobak"

"Tobacco" by Bengt Amundin

A narrative composition in bronze about tobacco, which was the sculptor’s first public work. It was installed in 1946 in front of the entrance to the state tobacco monopoly in Nässjö and was relocated to the tobacco factory in Arvika in 1971. The Arvika tobacco factory was located in what is now the Arvika Business Centre.

There are abstract elements in the figures, and one can notice similarities with the flowing forms found in, for example, the paintings of Fernand Léger (1881–1955). When viewing the story told through the sculpture, one might sense that the piece was a commission from the tobacco monopoly, intended to depict tobacco from a perspective that may not align with today’s standards of political correctness. However, art reflects the social norms of its time, which in itself makes it historically significant.

The Artist: Bengt Amundin

Bengt Amundin trained as a sculptor in the 1940s at the School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg and later at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. He was active during the heyday of modernism and studied under, among others, Professor Eric Grate. Early in his career, Bengt developed an interest in abstract and other playfully composed non-figurative works.