Ester Henning

Ester Henning
Born
Ester Matilda Henning

(1887-10-28)28 October 1887
Yngshyttan, Värmland, Sweden
Died1 May 1985(1985-05-01) (aged 97)

Ester Matilda Henning (28 October 1887 – 1 May 1985) was a Swedish artist. From 1919 she spent the remaining 60 years of her life in a mental institution.

Ester Matilda Henning was born on 28 October 1887 in Yngshyttan outside Filipstad. She was born fourth of seven daughters to a poor cobbler. She moved to Mora at the age of 12 to work as a nanny.[1][2]

Her art has been exhibited at three main exhibitions: in 1946 in Gothenburg, in 1963 at the Beckomberga Hospital and in 1970 at the Liljevalchs konsthall in Stockholm.

In 2009 Maud Nycander and Kersti Grunditz made a documentary about her life and her art that was shown on Sveriges Television.

Anna Jörgensdotter wrote a novel in 2015 inspired by her life titled Drömmen om Ester.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Ester Matilda Henning". Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  2. ^ Richardson, Lena (7 March 2021). "Esters trasa avslöjar dramatiskt konstnärsöde med trådar till Värmland". Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  3. ^ Hagberg, Mattias (1 June 2015). "Anna Jörgensdotter | Drömmen om Ester". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 August 2025.

Further reading