Basil Jonzen was born in England to Swedish parents in 1913 and studied under Bernard Meninsky at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. As a professional artist he established a successful longterm relationship with the Redfern Gallery in London's Cork Street, producing landscapes, still lives and portraits which were in high demand. In 1944 he married the sculptor Karin Löwenadler, also of Swedish descent, and the couple opened a gallery in their Kensington home; Jonzen subsequently opened the St George's Gallery, also in Cork Street, co-founded with Agatha Sadler and Robert Erskine, while his own artistic career waned in his later years.
Painter and gallerist Basil Jonzen was born in England in 1913 to Swedish parents. He studied art under Bernard Meninsky at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London and, in 1933, he held his first of many shows at the Redfern Gallery in Cork Street. Although he was only 19, the emotive qualities of his style, inspired by van Gogh, displayed great maturity in the colour harmony and light effects. As P. G. Konody noted in the Observer: 'In employing van Gogh's terminology […] Mr. Jonzen by no means produces pastiches […] but expresses in, as it were, a naturally assimilated idiom his individual reactions to the world and to life. These reactions are full of the vigour and freshness of youth to whom the beauty of nature is still a new experience, irresistibly stimulating to the senses and intriguing to the mind' (Konody 1933, p. 14). The exhibition was an instant success, and all Jonzen's works were sold. In June of the same year, he exhibited two paintings at the Redfern, alongside notable artists such as Augustus John, Paul Nash and Cedric Morris. On this occasion he was praised for his 'outstanding qualities' and his paintings Pink Almond and Villajoyosa were described by the Observer as 'magnificent examples of Mr Jonzen craftsmanship and profound sensitivity' (The Observer 1933, p. 10). In reviewing Jonzen's exhibition the following year, again at the Redfern, the art critic Jan Gordon showed great appreciation for his virtuosity and sense of colour, commenting: 'When one so young can produce a big still life as solid and complete as The Merlìn we can only ask ourselves where Basil Jonzen will eventually finish. It may be that he is destined to become a Millais who did not take the wrong turning' (Gordon 1934, p. 14). Jonzen established a successful relationship with the Redfern, producing landscapes, still lives and portraits – mainly in oils – which were in high demand. The Gallery even arranged that between his sell-out shows he could travel to France, mainland Spain, and the Balearic Islands to paint new work. The lithograph Almond Blossom (1937, Victoria and Albert Museum) and Pueblo de Chío (1938, Bradford Museums and Galleries) were both realised during one of his sojourns in Spain. Jonzen also showed with the New English Art Club from 1933, the Royal Academy of Arts from 1944, the Royal Society of British Artists (RBS), and with Arthur Tooth & Son; in 1945 he participated in the notable group show Flower Paintings by Matthew Smith, Duncan Grant, Elliot Seabrooke, Keith Baynes, Bazil Jonzen, at the Berkeley Galleries.
During the Second World War, Jonzen served as a camouflage expert in the army and in 1941 he took part in Operation Claymore, a commando raid on the Norwegian Lofoten Islands. He exhibited small pencil and colour drawings of music-hall and circus subjects at the Redfern in 1942 and tropical scenes in 1943. During the postwar years, he continued to hold sell-out exhibitions at a time when British artists hardly sold at all. Described by the painter Claude Rogers as 'the great bohemian of our generation' (Spurling 2002), Jonzen was an eccentric figure in the London art scene, familiar throughout Fitzrovia for his big black hat, swirling cape and silver-topped cane (Spurling 2002). In 1944 he married the well-known sculptor Karin Löwenadler, also of Swedish descent. In 1947 the Jonzens established an art gallery in their elegant Kensington house in Bolton Gardens, in William Orpen's former studio, using their eclectic collection as their original stock. The gallery was a great success and attracted leading collectors such as the Sainsburys, Jacob Epstein, and Kenneth Clark. Among the painters exhibited were William Scott, Stuart Ray, Clifford Hall and John Buckland-Wright. The Jonzens were close friends of the artist Peter O'Malley and his wife Joan Warburton.
In 1950 the Jonzens moved to Suffolk to focus on their own work. Karin's health deteriorated and she was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Once she recovered, they returned to London, where Jonzen started a new gallery in Cork Street, the St George's Gallery, with Agatha Sadler and Robert Erskine. Over the years, Jonzen struggled with alcohol problems, eventually succumbing to alcoholism. He separated from Karin and, for a period, he was treated in the Holloway Sanatorium, where he continued to paint. Potted Plants in an Interior, sold by Bonhams in 2015, was produced during his time there.
Almost forgotten, Basil Jonzen died in London, England in 1967. His work is held in a number of public collections, including the Arts Council Collection, Bradford Museum and Gallery, Brighton & Hove Art Galleries and National Museums Northern Ireland. Thanks to the efforts of Rex Nan Kivell, a New Zealand-born art collector and managing director of the Redfern Gallery from 1931, Jonzen's works can also be found in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Basil Jonzen]
Publications related to [Basil Jonzen] in the Ben Uri Library