John E. Franzén(1942-2022)

John E. Franzén born 1942 in Stockholm, was a Swedish painter and graphic artist, best known for his portrait of the Swedish Royal Family (1984-85) and the startling "Hells Angels of California, United States of America," (1966-69). He started spontaneously with landscape painting as a child, was educated at Konstfack - University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm 1960- 61 and at the Royal Academy of Arts 1961-66. He moved with his wife Ulrika and their son Mortimer to California in 1966 to study Cadillac cars, a social life in transformation and outlaw gangs like the Hells Angels. After three years the family returned to Sweden. Franzén, besides oil paintings, also worked with watercolours, ink painting, drypoint engraving and pencil drawings. In 1984, he was commissioned by the Court state to make an official portrait of the Swedish Royal Family. The painting was unveiled at Gripsholm Castle in 1985. The Royal Family chose the artist after, among other things, seeing a portrait of the artist's son in icehockey gear. Between the years 1988 and 1995, Franzén was a professor of painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm and he has been a member of the Royal Academy of Liberal Arts since 1989.