Who was Axel Ebbe?

During the first part of the 20th century, Axel Ebbe was considered one of the country's most famous contemporary sculptors, and there is almost a public artwork by him in every major city in Skåne. "Arbetets Ära" on Möllevångstorget in Malmö and "Mannen som bryter sig ur Klippan" on Universitetsplatsen in Lund are examples of grand and beloved works that have become gathering places and strongly associated with their respective cities.

Axel Ebbe was born in 1868 in Hököpinge on Söderslätt and had an early ambition to become an artist. During the 1890s, he studied in Copenhagen under the Norwegian-Danish sculptor Stephan Sinding before moving to Paris. He immersed himself in the bohemian, vibrant, and lively artistic neighborhoods of Paris during the era known as La Belle Époque, when Paris was a thriving art metropolis.

He made shorter visits to Sweden, but for the most part, he lived on the continent between 1890 and 1910. Berlin, Nice, Monte Carlo, Paris, and London became, at different times, his homes in an era when the art and cultural scene was flourishing. Being in the midst of this melting pot of cultural influences during that time not only fueled his creativity but also provided him with a solid foundation and the courage to find his own style. His first public artwork, "Solrosen", was inaugurated in 1912 in Kungsparken in Malmö, which enabled him to establish a studio with a residence in Sweden and soon a family life as well. His creativity flowed, and commissions and artworks followed one after another.

In 1933, he and his wife Lillemor donated all their works to the city of Trelleborg, and two years later, Axel Ebbe's Art Hall was built to house the donated collection of monumental plaster sculptures, sketches, graphics, and paintings.