Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar passes away
Painter, sculptor and photographer Carl Nesjar passed away on May 23rd at the age of 94. COAC had a special relation to Nesjar, who was recognized as one of the most important contemporary artists of Norway. He carried out the sgraffiti of the COAC headquarters' facade in Barcelona, based on Picasso's drawings made specifically for our building.
Carl Nesjar was born in the town of Larvik (Norway) in 1920. During World War II he studied Art and Design at the Royal Academy of Oslo. He spent his youth in New York, first studying at the Pratt Institute and, later on, at Columbia University, with Professor Meyer Schapiro.
His work was characterized by experimentation with different materials, which allowed him to develop, in collaboration with architect Erling Viksjö, the new technique of graphic decoration on concrete. This was the technique used on our headquarters' facade. The building of our headquarters in Barcelona, designed by architect Xavier Busquets, were an opportunity to launch a new collaboration between Spanish artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso and Carl Nesjar.
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