In the spring of 1936 the Swedish composer Gösta Nystroem, that was curator at Göteborgs Konsthall 1934–1936, organizes a scholarship to Billman. Billman was given the opportunity to study art in March and April in Antwerp. The journey gave inspiration for new motifs. But above all had the harbour environments strongly reminded him of his years as a sailor. Within a year after the trip he made some of his classic black and white woodcuts with sailor motifs such as: Through the Red Sea - Changing of the guard in the stokehole (1936) and The newly signed on sailors (1936), which is one of Billman's best-known woodcuts. About the woodcut Stoker watch goes over deck in the storm (1936/37) the artist said: "I remember the first scene I got inspiration from. It was when the watch came up and the boat was filled with water and there they stood up to their necks in water, so to speak. That I thought, I would try to portray. But it took many years. I had stored such motifs."Ryndel, Nils (editor) & Röhlander, Bengt (producer), Bilder med sälta (Pictures with Saltiness). Nils Ryndel, art historian, author and curator at Gothenburg Museum of Art, interviewing Torsten Billman in his studio in Norbyvallda, outside Kungsbacka. Film by Sveriges Television (SVT), Stockholm, 1974. "I've experienced all my images myself", Torsten Billman often underlined.Romare, Kristian (editor), Tidsbilder (Time Images). Kristian Romare, art critic and art-program producer at SVT, interviewing Torsten Billman in his studio. Film by Sveriges Television (SVT), Stockholm 1984.
