Wine art that has reached the great wine houses in the fragrant international whirlwind of wine.
I was born in Helsingborg in 1958, “in Råå”… IN RÅÅ, as we say in Helsingborg. I grew up in a true entrepreneurial family.
My father, Eskil “Otto” Håkansson, was a furniture retailer and remained self-employed for most of his working life. He began his career at the well-known Gärsnäs Möbel factory. Gärsnäs was founded in 1893 and is a family-owned company with production in its own factory in the village of Gärsnäs in Österlen.
My mother, Margit “Ingeborg” Håkansson, was always at home with me and my sister Lena.We grew up in a safe environment, and our parents were always there with big hearts and a passion for helping and guiding me and my sister through life’s different choices. Both my mother and father were interested in furniture design and beautiful interiors, so form and aesthetics became a driving curiosity for me and later an obvious path in my future entrepreneurship.
That I would end up in the world of advertising, working with form and design, also became my great passion.
A strong burning interest in creating and meeting new people has been the most important journey of curiosity in my life—choosing where and how to go, then finding the solutions to get there. It became a true journey. Not always easy; some decisions were very difficult, but never giving up was something I carried in my DNA. How I got there, I’ll return to later in the story.
Already at the age of six, together with my sister Lena—then nine—we were often placed with crayons, drawing pads, and a long flat table in our home at Winergatan 13 in the Planteringen area. My sister and I could sit and create for hours while our mother went out to buy food for the evening or the week.
My memories are that my sister grew tired after an hour or so, but I stayed at the same table when my mother came home several hours later after a long day in the city of Helsingborg. The journey was only about 20 minutes by tram, which in the 1960s was a common means of transport in Helsingborg and a familiar part of the city’s traffic life. Yes, at that time we even drove on the left side of the road, before it changed nationwide in 1967.
The clock struck 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 3, 1967—also known as “D-Day” (Högertrafikomläggningen).
So in my world, crayons, drawing pads, and wild ideas were what stuck to the initially bright white sheet of paper. These things also became my own little babysitter. Lena was there of course if something were to happen, though that felt unlikely when one was completely absorbed in colors and ideas. There was always a neighbor to run to if an accident occurred—my mother Margit had already arranged that.
I completed compulsory school in 1972–73 and then attended a two-year vocational school for graphic education in Helsingborg.
At 17, I got a 14-day internship. After proving myself, I was offered a permanent position as an AD assistant and “darkroom slave,” as it was called at the time, plus general assistant duties—at the Swedish advertising agency Ted Bates AB.
At 19, I completed my military service—“the recruit,” as my mother Margit would have said—at P2 in Hässleholm for 7.5 months. After that, I returned to Ted Bates, where I now worked as an AD assistant under a fantastic man from Turkey who took me under his wing: Dündar Ünal. He was an incredible person and above all a world-class designer and idea generator.
I wanted to develop further and applied to Polhemskolan in Lund to study graphic illustration. There were about 180 applicants, and only eight were accepted into the two-year program. With carefully selected work samples submitted, all that remained was to wait and hope for “Day A”—A as in Art. Eventually, the letter arrived at the Laröd villa where I had moved at age six and lived until it was time to test my wings.
This was the letter I had waited for all summer, the question my mother had answered every day. With trembling hands, I opened it and read it over and over, hardly comprehending that I was one of the eight accepted students. That made me incredibly proud.
The education was a two-year program in the cathedral city of Lund.“This must be taken advantage of!” I thought—long before the first day of term had even started.
During this time, students could apply for a two-week internship in Skåne. I thought bigger and gathered the courage to write to what was then the most legendary advertising agency in Sweden, led by two icons: Lars Hall and Jan Cederqvist. They set the standard for Swedish design and copy—essentially the Zlatan and Ronaldo of their time, winning all the Golden Egg awards in the industry. Perhaps the greatest duo in Swedish advertising history.
I interned there for two weeks, and on my final day I was offered a permanent position as an AD assistant to Lars Hall at Hall & Cederqvist, which later opened a branch in New York City. However, after my education in Lund, I accepted a permanent position at Svenska Intermarco Farmer, a French-Paris-owned advertising agency operating in several countries.
There I worked with international brands such as DIM (women’s nylon hosiery), the jeans brand Lee Cooper, Felix packaging, and more. Packaging design became something I developed a strong interest in, which later taught me a refined visual language for designing wine labels and bottle presentation.
I was later headhunted to a privately owned advertising agency in Helsingborg, Liljedahl & Co, where I worked for about four years.
In the 1990s, I started my own advertising agency, which quickly gained momentum with many well-known brands. The agency grew to 12 employees; Puma became a Scandinavian client, ICA our largest customer, along with numerous design assignments.
During this period, I wanted to further develop my way of painting and expressing myself. The list of wine producers I’ve worked with is now long and impressive—even to myself. Today, I receive commissions from wine producers and wine enthusiasts around the world.
In 1990, a group of well-known restaurateurs from Helsingborg traveled to Napa Valley in the USA on a food and wine trip. I was asked if I could design a T-shirt with a wine motif for the famous Caymus Vineyard. When the winemaker and sales manager saw the shirt, they were so impressed by my illustration that it resulted in my first delivery to a winery.
Throughout the 1990s and beyond, I focused heavily on building brands in the advertising world, while simultaneously maintaining a strong belief in my art. My first vernissage in my hometown of Helsingborg sold out completely within two days—15 works in total. That’s when I truly caught the bug, and the journey began.
In 2007, I held my first exhibition in New York City. Wow—how happy and proud I was. Park Avenue, Scandinavia House, and an event at the Grand Havana Room, 666 Fifth Avenue. After that, exhibitions around the world followed.
As a well-known wine journalist once wrote:“He is deeply interested in music, football, food, and wine—but it is wine that became his career, at least through the brush.”
Clas Håkansson is an artist who found his inspiration in the wine world, painting wine-themed works. His well-known motifs feature a naked wine bottle with an exclusive label from major wine houses, represented at many of the world’s best vineyards and restaurants under his distinctive brand “ART FROM THE WINE.”
His style is instantly recognizable: a naked bottle with a realistically painted label of a favorite wine—either his own or the commissioner’s. Over the years, the technique has evolved and become even more personal.
Clas has held countless exhibitions in New York, Rome, Luxembourg, Mallorca, Dubai, Marbella, among others, and his works adorn the walls of wine lovers and producers worldwide.
In February 2018, Clas held his first event in Dubai, with help from his cousin Kerstin and Lars Lidén, at the prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre.
For three seasons, Clas has also been a partner and exhibitor at the Swedish Open and Stockholm Open. Over more than twenty-five years, his wine paintings and label designs have developed into a unique niche—imbued with the scent of the fine world of wine.
Wine art became a main feature in Cape Town when Clas contributed a painting and glass sculpture to the exclusive Cape Wine Auction in South Africa, hosted in 2016 by the renowned Klein Constantia estate. The auction raises funds for the education of children of vineyard workers.
Clas was the only European artist invited to contribute, resulting in a unique glass sculpture produced in three exclusive editions.
In 2019, Clas donated a unique artwork—a champagne cork in glass and gold leaf, together with a champagne painting—to the Jone Foundation gala in Gothenburg. His contribution raised the most money of all artworks.
The art has now reached Japan. With his sake art, Clas is now also a supplier to celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, co-owner of the world-famous NOBU restaurant chain together with Robert De Niro, present in 47 locations worldwide.
Today, Clas Håkansson is more active than ever. Despite the global COVID-19 crisis, he continues to navigate forward with faith in his ability and hope for the future.
As one great inspirer once said:“In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”—Andy Warhol
I’ve tasted fame through my art.That flame still burns—and has not gone out—even after 62 years.
Today, I live with my life partner Ulrika “Ullis” Thell, who also helps drive the art forward. I have three wonderful sons - Anton, Simon, and Albin - and three bonus children - Linda, Victor, and Erich - who give us strength to pursue new goals. From design and form to world-class music, our family lives in the wonderful world of entrepreneurs - with faith, hope, and love.