Sven Berlin
| Sven Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 September 1911 Sydenham, London, England |
| Died | 14 December 1999 (aged 88) Wimborne, Dorset, England |
| Occupation | Painter, sculptor, poet, writer and dancer |
Sven Berlin (14 September 1911 – 14 December 1999) was an English painter, writer and sculptor. He is now best known for his controversial fictionalised autobiography The Dark Monarch, which was withdrawn just days after publication in 1962 following legal action. The book became the theme of an exhibition in Tate St Ives in autumn 2009 when it was re-published.
Berlin was born and grew up in Sydenham, south-east London, in a conventional household for the time, though he was obliged to leave school due to financial pressures at the age of twelve, pursuing a successful career as an adagio dancer until his mid-twenties, where he met his first wife, Helga.
In 1938, he moved to Cornwall to develop his artistic skills, and came under the influence of Dr Frank Turk, an Exeter University educationalist, and attended lectures on philosophy, ancient cultures and the arts. A son, Paul and daughter Janet (who later adopted the name Greta) were born in Cornwall. In the Second World War, Berlin registered as a conscientious objector and worked in the market garden established by the art critic Adrian Stokes at Little Park Owles, Carbis Bay, outside St Ives where he met fellow artists Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. He also began research into the naive artist Alfred Wallis, and his book, the first profile to be written, was eventually published by Tambimuttu's Poetry London in 1949. Berlin later renounced his position as a conscientious objector after observing some distressing naval bombing in the English Channel and joined the Army, taking part in the D-Day landings as a Forward Observer in France, Holland and Belgium. As well as writing about his experiences to Adrian Stokes, he also produced a series of pen and ink drawings of army life, local people and children caught up in the War. A breakdown led to his return, culminating in a divorce soon afterwards.
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