Claes Hake

Hake was born in Mölndal on 7 February 1945. He was dyslexic.^[2][3] He was accepted to the Valand Art Academy in 1963, at the age of 17.^[4][5] He received his master's degree at 22.^[5][6] He was first interested in painting before sculpting.^[7]

In the first ten years after graduating from Valand, he sold just three sculptures. He supported himself working as a stagehand at the Gothenburg City Theatre.^[8]

Hake's 1982 bronze sculpture Bohuslän, usually displayed at Gothenburg Central Station, was stolen in 1992. It was later recovered and donated to the city's cultural committee.^[9][10] He sculpted Solringen [sv], which was installed in 1993 at the Gothenburg University Library.^[7] His 1995 sculpture Arch is displayed in Umedalen skulpturpark.^[11] He was awarded a ten-year fellowship from the Swedish Fine Arts Foundation in 1997.^[12]

With fellow sculptors Pål Svensson [sv] and Kent Karlsson [sv], he had a group showing in Gothenburg in 2005.^[13]

He designed the memorial for the victims of the 1998 Gothenburg discotheque fire. The names of the 62 victims were engraved on a slab of polished blue granite, measuring 10 m (33 ft) long and 2 m (6.6 ft) high.^[14] The memorial was unveiled in 2008, on the tenth anniversary of the fire.^[15]

His 2020 solo exhibition at the Wetterling Gallery [sv] received praise from Birgitta Rubin [sv] in Dagens Nyheter.^[16] In 2024, many of his works (made between 1962 and 2024) were exhibited in a career retrospective at the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Tjörn. The exhibit was acclaimed by Boel Ulfsdotter in Göteborgs-Posten.^[17]

He exhibited Döskallar och Dönickar, containing 70 bronze sculptures, at Galleri Thomassen from 13 September to 5 October 2025. Hake was seriously ill at the time of the show, and Karin Frid of Göteborgs-Posten characterised the exhibit as a "chance to say goodbye."^[18]

Hake died on 16 October 2025, at the age of 80.^[19]