Egon Moller Nielsen Research - Updated

 

“It’s based on a child’s desire to hide, slide and climb up high to feel that sense of danger.”

Egon Möller Nielsen

Born in Denmark, Swedish artist Egon Möller Nielsen (1915-1959), known for his play sculptures, particularly Tufsen and Ägget, which were designed to encourage children's interaction with art. He was described as “the first serious sculptor to intermingle the flowing space of modernism with the fantasy world of children”(Solomon, 2005, cited in Druker, 2019). When both sculptures was introduced to the public (1949 and 1952) they was different to others playgrounds, as the most of Swedish parks was simple, including a sandbox, swings, a slide and a climbing frame(Birthe & Per Arwidssons stiftelse, 2020).

Egons friend Endre Nemes proposed that the play sculptures exist as a Trojan horse to sneak in controversial art and as a excuse that is for children (Druker, 2008) .

Egon Møller-Nielsen, Tufsen, 1949

 

 

While I was evaluated and try recognize what was inspiration for this piece I recognised 2 object which possibly Egon used. First what came to my mind was sandal, shoe or foot, I used my phone to create outline and ta da! Please tell me its not only me.

The second I seen was a baby/small fish. I tried to find any information if Egon mentioned his muse, however, no luck.

What is so special about this two sculptures? It is the curves and  ... shapes which creating complex figures. It fit well into park/ green area and material which was used give it that extra touch as it not let you forget about urban origin.

Ägget (Egg),1952

 For his work Møller-Nielsen used stone ingot material, a mix of concrete and crushed marble ,this medium was chosen for its durability, allowing the play sculptures to survive years of exploitation with children while maintaining their artistic form.

Also I decided to create something similar and that's is the result - side and top view.

Under this link you can find other work of Egon: 

Moderna Museet

 

 

 

References:

Birthe & Per Arwidssons stiftelse. “Plats För Lekfull Konst.” Arwidssonstiftelsen, 27 Apr. 2020, arwidssonstiftelsen.se/lekfull_konst/.

Burkhalter, Gabriela. “The Playground Project - Announcements - E-Flux.” E-Flux, 2025, www.e-flux.com/announcements/440213/the-playground-project/.

Druker, Elina. “Play Sculptures and Picturebooks: Utopian Visions of Modern Existence.” Barnboken, vol. 42, no. Volume 42 (2019), 2019, https://doi.org/10.14811/clr.v42i0.433.

Wängdahl, Lars. Confidentiality: C2 -Internal. 2023.

Photo Reference list:

Silva, J. (2009). Ägget. [Photo] Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXUxNiNXA3Pq2_2y3X0OhLhBuDtEQnC-V2ss5Ao4qF2snZP4IZ20f3IylAoY52nsMIy4EURhgtATJNV3Ao70SpDt1ZbWt50_C_lcX10P-wsvZ9FmSLk2Kv9cyuycemDvpZAr0KNs_rxo/s1600-h/%C3%A4ggetbyEgonM%C3%B6llerNielsen.jpg [Accessed 10 May 2025].

Sundahl, S. (2022). Egon Møller-Nielsen, Tufsen (in the artist’s studio), 1949. [Photo] Available at: https://flash---art.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/playground_project_1.jpg [Accessed 10 May 2025].