Tora Vega Holmström

Tora Vega Holmström (2 March 1880, Tottarp, Scania – 28 January 1967, Lund) was a Swedish painter.

Early life and education Anna Tora Vega Elisabeth Holmström grew up with five siblings at Hvilan Community College in Åkarp, run by her parents. In what was Sweden's first community college, the young woman found an intellectually dynamic environment conducive to societal debates.

From 1900 to 1902, Holmström studied at the Valand Academy in Gothenburg. She was admitted there thanks to her sister, who sent Holmström's drawings to Carl Wilhelmson, artist and director of the school of painting. Although aware of Holmström's talent, Wilhelmson replied in his letter:— "[...] however, she has one thing against her: her sex. Because a woman can never become an artist to be encouraged and God preserve us for those we already have."

Career

Holmström made several trips to France, Finland, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Algeria. At the Old Port of Marseille, she met one of her favorite models, a woman named Cathérine.

In 1914, Holmström presented a dozen works at the Baltic Exhibition in Malmö. The vigor of her style and the audacity of her colors aroused critics, who considered them brutal and "insufficiently feminine". with Rilke's 28 letters bearing witness to short meetings and discussions around Goethe and color theory. Holmström never married or had children, which gave her the status of a professional artist all her life.

Selected works Étrangers, 1913–14, Moderna Museet Le cavalier, 1921, Moderna Museet María Blanchard, 1921, Moderna Museet Madone espagnole, 1931, Moderna Museet Cilia, la tisserande, 1937, Moderna Museet