Fabian Edelstam

1965

“In my portraits I try to recreate a bridge between past and present cultures, set in modern framework according to the principles of ancient mosaics (…) Some pieces are missing, others are in disorder, just like the fragments of a childhood memory that is being reconstructed, or should I say, exorcised?”

Fabian Edelstam was born in Stockholm, Sweden 1965. Since 1990 he has lived and worked in Paris.

After graduating he continued his studies with Bachelor’s Degree at Beckmans School of Design and Fashion (1986–1989) in Stockholm and then at the art school Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris (1990–1991).

“Edelstam is splitting the image and reconstructing it. He is a premodernist and apostmodernist. His sense for the image goes back far into the past, as does his pedigree. He is as fascinated by the golden Byzantine icons as by the posterlike icons of our time, but seeks a deeper reality by breaking them into pieces and putting them together again. But, as if it were a childhood memory or an historic event, some little square will remain missing. It is from these ponctures his art creates a a sense of authenticity, his portraits become real, his faces become human”

(H.E Mr. Ingemar Lindahl, writer, former Ambassador of Sweden)

Fabian Edelstam has frequently undertaken commissions, for example the UN/the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Swiss Confederation (CH), UNESCO, the Swedish embassy in Paris, The Wallenberg Foundations, Banque Havilland (Monaco, London & Luxemburg), Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, the filmmakers Merchant-Ivory, eOffice in the UK, the Swiss bank Banque Mirabaud, the lawfirm Bird & Bird (Paris, Madrid and Abu Dhabi), White & Case (Brussels) Bonnier Publications, the law firms Glatzova & Co in Prague and Dewey & LeBeuf in Paris, Mission of Sweden to NATO, Ralph Lauren, Ferrari at Silverstone and the Italian company Motta.

Since 1997, Edelstam has completed a large number of commissioned portraits, mainly in London, Paris and Milan (amongst these, the portraits of Giorgio Armani in 2004, Ralph Lauren 2009 and the former President of the Swiss Confederation, Adolf Ogi in 2011, Queen Silvia of Sweden 2013.).

In 2006 his triptych of de Gaulle was purchased by kind courtesy of Champagne Taittinger for the museum Mémorial Charles de Gaulle, near the Generals residence in Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglises, France. In 2015 the unveiling ceremony of Edelstam’s portrait of the European statesman Paul-Henri Spaak took place in the EuropeanParliament in Brussels, in the presence of Mrs Antoinette Spaak (daughter of P-H Spaak), the commissioner Mrs Cecilia Malmström and Mr Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament. During the bilateral Swedish state visit to Monaco 2017 Edelstam’s portraits of H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco and HRH Prince Carl-Philip of Sweden was solemnly handed over to the two princes. In 2019 the portrait of the Balkan War-hero General Marinov solemnly was handed over to the National Museum of Military History in Sofia (Bulgaria) during a ceremony, in the presence of the Ambassador of Sweden to Bulgaria.

Edelstam’s work is found in private collections in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Austria,Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Monaco, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,United Arab Emirates, Egypt, China, Canada and the US. He is represented in the Parliament of Luxemburg, The European Parliament in Brussels, The Bulgarian National Museum of Military History in Sofia, in various Swedish Ambassadorial residences (Brussels, Bern, Paris, Cairo, Mumbai etc) , the mission of Switzerland to NATO, the mission of Italy to NATO, the mission of Sweden to NATO, Mémorial Charles de Gaulle, the Royal Collections of Sweden, the collections of Prince Albert II of Monaco, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, Tändstickspalatset (the HQ of match king Ivar Kreuger) and Cercle Suédois in Paris.French television France 2 did a report on Edelstam’s show in Paris 1995.