Alfred Thörne (1850–1916) Sweden

Sunset over Calm Waters with Waterbirds, c. 1895–1905

signed lower right Alfr. Thörne
oil on canvas
unframed 72.5 × 100 cm (28.5 × 39.4 in)
framed 88 × 116 cm (34.6 × 45.7 in)

Provenance:
A Swedish private collection.

Condition Report:
Recently professionally conserved. The paint surface is well preserved with delicate, age appropriate craquelure typical of paintings from the period. The conservation has revealed a fresh palette. A newly made gilded frame is included.

Essay.
This remarkable landscape belongs to Alfred Thörne's mature production and demonstrates his exceptional ability to transform an apparently simple motif into a poetic meditation on light, atmosphere and silence. The composition is built around an expansive sheet of tranquil water illuminated by the last light of day. Rather than relying on architectural landmarks or dramatic topography, Thörne creates depth through subtle spatial relationships and the careful placement of only a few elements.

A family of waterbirds glides quietly across the foreground, introducing a gentle rhythm to the otherwise still surface. Slightly to the right, a solitary navigation marker rises from the water. More than simply a practical object, it functions as the visual anchor of the composition, establishing perspective while guiding the viewer's eye towards the distant shoreline. The restrained arrangement allows the extraordinary sky to dominate the painting.

The sunset is the true protagonist. Vast cloud formations sweep across the canvas in delicate bands of blue, lavender, rose and warm golden yellow. These colours dissolve almost seamlessly into the calm water below, where the reflections become softer and increasingly atmospheric. The result is an image in which sky and water merge into a single luminous space. Few Swedish landscape painters of the late nineteenth century handled changing light with such sensitivity, and this work ranks among Thörne's finest atmospheric compositions.

Although the precise location has not been identified, the motif appears more closely related to the Swedish coast or archipelago than to one of the artist's inland lakes. The navigation marker, together with the low horizon and broad open water, suggests a navigable waterway, while the distant wooded shoreline remains intentionally generalized. Rather than describing a specific place, Thörne sought to capture a universal Nordic evening, where the fading light becomes the principal subject.

Alfred Thörne studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm under Per Daniel Holm between 1874 and 1880. In 1880 he received the Royal Medal for his painting Sommarmorgon and the following year became an agré of the Academy. A travelling scholarship enabled him to study in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium between 1884 and 1886. These journeys broadened his artistic outlook, yet his mature career remained deeply rooted in Swedish nature, where he developed a highly personal interpretation of landscape founded on careful observation and refined colour harmonies.

Throughout his career Thörne exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and participated in several important international exhibitions, including the Nordic Exhibition in Copenhagen in 1888, the Gothenburg Exhibition of 1891 and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He also worked as a drawing instructor and executed public commissions, among them the altarpiece for Vimmerby Church. Today his works are represented in the collections of Nationalmuseum, Nordiska museet, Östergötlands Museum, Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Gävle Museum and Sundsvalls Museum.

The present painting can confidently be placed within the artist's mature period, probably around the turn of the twentieth century. Its scale corresponds closely with several documented landscapes from the 1890s, while its emphasis on atmosphere and transient light relates closely to a number of known exhibited works bearing titles such as Skymning, Tidig morgon, Höstmorgon and Sommarnatt. 

Carl Johansson (1863–1944) Sweden

"Motiv från Ramsele" (View from Ramsele), 1938

signed and dated lower right Carl Johansson 1938
oil on panel
unframed 23 × 46 cm (9.1 × 18.1 in)
framed 32 × 55 cm (12.6 × 21.7 in)

Provenance:
Swedish private collection

Condition report:
The painting appears to be in fine condition with well preserved colors and surface.

Essay:
This landscape from 1938 depicts the countryside around Ramsele in Ångermanland, northern Sweden. A winding country road leads the viewer into the composition, passing open fields and scattered trees before reaching the distant blue hills that characterize the region. The broad sky occupies much of the picture surface, animated by luminous clouds rendered in subtle shades of blue, pink and violet.

Carl Johansson was among the foremost Swedish landscape painters of his generation. Educated at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, he later traveled extensively through Europe, studying in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Despite these international experiences, the Swedish landscape remained the central theme of his art. His paintings are admired for their ability to combine direct observation with a highly personal interpretation of light, atmosphere and color.

The landscape around Ramsele offered precisely the qualities that appealed to Johansson. Situated in the valley of the Ångerman River and surrounded by rolling forested hills, the area is known for its expansive views and distinctive blue distances. In the present work, these receding blue forms provide depth and structure, while also contributing to the characteristic Nordic atmosphere that permeates the painting.

The work displays many of the qualities associated with Johansson’s later production. The surface is constructed from short, confident brushstrokes that create a vibrant mosaic of color. Rather than blending tones smoothly, he allows individual strokes of blue, green, lavender and warm pink to remain visible, creating a shimmering effect across the entire composition. This technique gives the painting both energy and luminosity, even in passages of shadow.

Particularly striking is the treatment of the sky. The clouds are built through rhythmic strokes of cool and warm color, transforming a simple evening landscape into a study of light and atmosphere. The result is a scene that feels both immediate and timeless, capturing not only a specific place but also the sensation of a northern summer evening.

Carl Johansson (1863–1944) Sweden

"Från en Fårögård" 
(From a Farm on Fårö), 1933

signed and dated lower right Carl Johansson 1933
oil on panel
unframed 31.5 × 40.5 cm (12.4 × 15.9 in)
framed 42.5 × 51 cm (16.7 × 20.1 in)

Provenance:
Swedish private collection

Condition report:
The painting appears to be in fine condition with well preserved colors and surface. the wood panel is flat and stable. Presented in a period style frame.

Essay:
This charming landscape from 1933 depicts a farmstead on Fårö, the island situated north of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. In the foreground stands a characteristic stone barn with a thatched roof, a building type long associated with the agricultural traditions of Gotland and its surrounding islands. The structure is bathed in bright summer light, while a row of trees casts soft shadows across the grass, creating a harmonious balance between architecture and nature.

Carl Johansson was one of Sweden’s foremost landscape painters and among the most accomplished interpreters of Nordic light. Educated at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, he later travelled extensively throughout Europe, studying in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Despite these international experiences, it was the Swedish landscape that became the enduring focus of his art. He developed a highly personal style in which atmosphere, light and color took precedence over topographical exactitude.

Gotland and Fårö occupied a special place within Swedish art during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The islands attracted painters with their distinctive architecture, open landscapes and exceptional light. In the present work, Johansson captures not only the appearance of a rural farm but also the calm rhythm of island life. The motif is rendered without sentimentality, yet with evident affection and familiarity.

notable is the artist’s characteristic brushwork. The painting is built from short, confident strokes that create a vibrant surface while preserving clarity of form. The extensive use of blue and blue violet tones, even within areas of sunlight and shadow, is especially characteristic of Johansson’s later production. These cool hues interact with warmer greens and earth colors, creating the luminous harmony for which his mature works are admired.

Sources:
Svenskt konstnärslexikon
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Published literature on Carl Johansson
Exhibition and auction records relating to Carl Johansson’s landscapes
Art historical studies of Gotland and Fårö in Swedish painting

Olof Arborelius (1842–1915) Sweden

Lakeside Study

attributed to Olof Arborelius
oil on panel laid down on canvas
certified by Gustaf Jaensson verso
unframed 15.5 × 24 cm (6.1 × 9.4 in)
framed 26 × 34.5 cm (10.2 × 13.6 in)

Provenance:
Swedish private collection

Condition report:
The work presents well with age related wear.

Essay:
This small yet remarkably fresh landscape study demonstrates the qualities that make Olof Arborelius one of the most appealing Swedish landscape painters of the nineteenth century. Executed with rapid and confident brushwork, the painting captures a tranquil lakeside scene where water, sky and land are united through light and atmosphere rather than detailed description.

To the left, a sheltered bay opens toward distant blue hills fading into the horizon. A pair of small rowing boats rest quietly near the shoreline, while to the right a modest group of buildings nestles among trees. A solitary female figure appears near the water's edge, seemingly occupied with daily tasks, perhaps feeding birds that gather around her. These small narrative elements enrich the composition without distracting from its primary focus, which remains the landscape itself.

What is especially striking is the treatment of the sky. The clouds are rendered with extraordinary freedom and spontaneity, built through broad, fluid strokes that seem to record the movement of air itself. Arborelius possessed a rare ability to suggest atmosphere with minimal means, and nowhere is this more evident than in studies such as the present work. The sky is not merely a backdrop but an active participant in the composition, filling the scene with light and movement.

Arborelius studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1861 and 1868 before travelling extensively through Europe. His journeys took him to Germany, France and Italy, where he absorbed contemporary developments in landscape painting. Although he later became closely associated with the Swedish countryside and especially with Dalarna, his art retained throughout his career a freshness rooted in direct observation. He eventually became professor of landscape painting at the Academy and was among the most respected landscape painters of his generation.

The present work possesses many of the characteristics that collectors most appreciate in Arborelius. Rather than a carefully finished exhibition painting, it appears to be an intimate study executed directly before nature. The rapid handling, luminous color and economy of means create a vivid sense of immediacy. Such works often reveal the artist at his most personal, responding directly to changing weather, shifting light and the fleeting effects of the natural world.

Sources
Svenskt konstnärslexikon
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Rune Andersson (1936– ) Sweden

Händerna (The Hands), 1968

signed and dated a tergo
oil on panel and relief
framed approximately 66 × 57 cm (26 × 22.4 in)

Provenance:
Private collection, Sweden.

Condition Report:
Available upon request.

Essay:
There are paintings one looks at, and paintings that seem to look back. Rune Andersson's The Hands belongs unmistakably to the latter category. Created in 1968, the work emerged during one of the most creative periods in the artist's career. Born in Vånga, Skåne, in 1936, Andersson was a remarkably versatile cultural figure whose activities encompassed painting, poetry, literature and music. Although he became best known as a singer songwriter and storyteller, he maintained an active visual practice throughout the 1960s and beyond, exhibiting his work in Stockholm during the same year that The Hands was executed. His artistic production across different media reveals a recurring fascination with human vulnerability, memory, dreams and the darker dimensions of the imagination.

These concerns find a particularly striking expression in The Hands. At first glance we can see a dark surface dominates the composition, concealing more than it reveals. Gradually a face begins to emerge from the shadows. The features are indistinct yet unmistakably human. A forehead catches the light, a nose becomes visible and the outline of a figure slowly emerge in front of the viewer. Rather than depicting a clearly defined individual, Andersson presents a presence suspended between appearance and disappearance.

The work is immediate and deeply unsettling. One experiences a moment of uncertainty in which the distinction between illusion and reality begins to dissolve. The painted figure seems to acquire physical agency. The hands are no longer representations but objects occupying the same space as the viewer. The artwork consequently becomes both image and event. It is not merely something to be observed. It becomes an encounter.

The figure itself remains deliberately ambiguous. Is it a prisoner attempting to escape confinement? A dream emerging from the subconscious? A memory refusing to disappear? Andersson leaves these questions unanswered. The uncertainty forms an essential part of the work's enduring appeal. The viewer becomes an active participant, constructing meaning through personal interpretation and emotional response.

More than half a century after its creation, The Hands continues to possess a remarkable immediacy. Its theatrical quality never descends into spectacle because it is supported by genuine psychological depth. The sculpted hands serve not as decorative additions but as integral components of the work's meaning. They embody the central drama of the composition: the struggle between containment and release, invisibility and presence, imagination and reality.

Olof Arborelius (1842–1915) Sweden

Ships in Moonlight

monogram signed OA
oil on canvas
unframed 42 × 60 cm (16.5 × 23.6 in)
framed 55 × 74 cm (21.7 × 29.1 in)

Reverse inscribed “Rosen”, possibly referring to Georg von Rosen.

Provenance:
Private collection, Sweden

Condition report:
The painting presents well with age related wear consistent with the age.

Essay:
This moonlit harbor scene is painted with remarkable spontaneity and freedom. A dark sailing vessel rises against a glowing path of reflected moonlight, while the surrounding boats, distant shoreline and soft mountainous forms dissolve into silvery blue atmosphere. The composition is executed with quick and highly suggestive brushwork, giving the painting an immediacy that feels almost impressionistic in spirit.

Although the precise location remains unidentified, the motif appears far more southern than Scandinavian. The open water, the silhouette of the ships, the distant rock formations and the warm nocturnal atmosphere suggest Italy rather than Sweden. This interpretation fits naturally within Olof Arborelius’ artistic development and documented travels. Arborelius stayed in Italy from the autumn of 1870 until January 1872, and during 1871 he spent time in Naples and Capri. These Italian journeys became deeply important to his artistic formation and produced a number of highly atmospheric oil studies focused on light, air and fleeting effects.

Arborelius studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1861 and 1868. After his academic training he traveled extensively through Europe, visiting Düsseldorf, Paris, Munich and Italy. He later became one of Sweden’s most respected landscape painters and eventually served as professor of landscape painting at the Academy from 1902 until 1909. Although he is today especially associated with landscapes from Dalarna and central Sweden, his southern travels reveal another side of his art, one more closely connected to light, mood and plein air observation.

The present work belongs convincingly to this more atmospheric aspect of his oeuvre. The painting does not rely on detailed description, but instead captures the sensation of standing before water under moonlight, where forms gradually dissolve into reflection and haze. The silver path of light across the sea becomes the compositional axis of the image, while the surrounding darkness is animated through subtle variations of blue, grey and warm white.

Particularly compelling is the freshness of execution. The brushwork remains rapid and searching, preserving the character of direct observation rather than studio finish. This quality aligns closely with the oil sketches and Italian studies for which Arborelius later became admired. The work therefore possesses both intimacy and immediacy, allowing the viewer to sense the artist’s direct encounter with the motif.

Severin Nilson (1846–1918) Sweden

Archipelago at Sunset

signed lower right Severin Nilson
oil on canvas
unframed 40 × 70 cm (15.7 × 27.6 in)
framed 52 × 82 cm (20.5 × 32.3 in)

Provenance:
Private collection, Skåne, Sweden

Condition report:
The painting is in fine condition with age related wear. The frame is in good condition with a few older restorations.

Essay:
The painting demonstrates Severin Nilson’s sensitivity to mood and seasonal light. Rather than focusing on topographical precision, he constructs the composition through color and atmosphere. The dark silhouettes of trees create depth and structure, while the warm reflections across the water become the emotional center of the scene. The contrast between the cool shadows of the foreground and the glowing horizon gives the landscape both calmness and intensity.

Severin Nilson was born in Asige in Halland in 1846 and belongs to the generation of Swedish painters active during the transition from academic naturalism toward a more atmospheric and nationally rooted landscape painting. He initially studied decorative painting before continuing his education at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. During the 1870s he traveled extensively in Europe, particularly in Germany and France, experiences that broadened his artistic outlook and brought him into contact with contemporary developments in landscape painting.

Although Nilson is often associated with his depictions of rural life and interiors from Halland, landscape remained an important part of his artistic production throughout his career. His works frequently emphasize quiet moments in nature rather than dramatic spectacle. Evening light, reflective water and softly shifting atmospheres recur throughout his paintings, revealing an artist deeply attentive to the emotional qualities of the Nordic landscape.

What makes the present work particularly appealing is its restrained emotional tone. The sunset is radiant yet never theatrical, and the stillness of the water creates an almost meditative atmosphere. Nilson succeeds in capturing that brief northern moment when daylight lingers late into the evening and the entire landscape appears suspended between light and darkness.

Egbert Lievensz van der Poel (1621–1664) The Netherlands
Attributed to

Village Fire at Night

unsigned
oil on copper plate
plate 15 × 19 cm (5.9 × 7.5 in)
framed 32 × 35 cm (12.6 × 13.8 in)

Provenance:
Private collection, Sweden.

Compare with:
Christie’s, Old Master Pictures, 8 May 1995, Lot 108, A House in a Village on Fire at Night, oil on copper.

Essay:
This dramatic nocturnal scene depicts a village in fire, rendered with the intense contrasts of light and darkness for which Egbert van der Poel became renowned. Flames erupt from the roofline of a building at the center of the composition, illuminating the surrounding houses and casting a flickering glow across the gathered villagers below. Figures rush to salvage belongings, tend to animals and organize themselves amid the confusion, while smoke and sparks dissolve into the night sky above.

The painting is characteristic of van der Poel’s mature production, particularly his fascination with catastrophic fire scenes. Working during the Dutch Golden Age, he specialized in nocturnal subjects illuminated by flames, moonlight or torchlight, developing a highly theatrical visual language built around the effects of artificial light within darkness. His compositions are notable not only for their technical skill, but also for their emotional immediacy. The viewer is drawn directly into the unfolding event, witnessing both destruction and communal response.

Van der Poel was born in Delft in 1621 and initially worked within the broader Dutch landscape tradition. His career, however, was profoundly shaped by the catastrophic Delft gunpowder explosion of 1654, which devastated large parts of the city. Following this event, scenes of destruction, ruins and burning buildings became central to his art. The present painting belongs closely to that tradition, where disaster is transformed into spectacle through the painterly orchestration of light.

Particularly striking is the handling of illumination. The fire itself functions as the compositional and emotional center of the work, its white and orange flames breaking violently through the darkness. Around this nucleus, van der Poel carefully modulates secondary reflections across rooftops, figures and smoke. The surrounding darkness is not empty, but filled with subtle variations of brown, deep red and black, allowing forms gradually to emerge from shadow.

Copper plates allowed seventeenth century painters to achieve unusually fine detail and luminous surface qualities. Here, the smooth support enhances the brilliance of the fire and gives clarity to even the smallest passages of reflected light. This was particularly advantageous for cabinet pictures intended for close viewing, where precision refinement were highly valued.

Connection to a signed Christie’s painting sold in 1995 is especially noteworthy. Both works share dimensions, support and motif, and the compositional parallels are unusually close. Pendant paintings were common within Dutch seventeenth century cabinet painting, particularly for collectors interested in thematic pairs. The possibility that the present work once belonged to such a pairing strengthens the attribution.

Condition report:
Recently restored by a professional conservator. Areas of paint loss in the dark passages to the right side and lower corners have been retouched. The central motif remains in very good condition for its age. Presented in a gilt frame.

David Cronholm (1877–1968) Sweden

Forest Landscape, 1910

signed and dated lower right D Strid 1910
charcoal on paper
paper 65.5 × 46.5 cm (25.8 × 18.3 in)
framed 76 × 57 cm (29.9 × 22.4 in)

Provenance:
A Swedish private collection. 

Essay:
This charcoal drawing from 1910 is an unusually powerful example of David Cronholm’s ability to transform a forest motif into something at once precise, immersive and deeply atmospheric. A great spruce dominates the composition, its trunk rising from a dark and broken forest floor while long, drooping branches spread across the sheet in an almost enclosing web. The image is built without anecdote or scenic distraction. Instead, Cronholm concentrates the entire drama of the work into the physical presence of the tree itself and the shadowed interior of the woodland around it.

What makes the drawing so compelling is the extraordinary control of tone. The trunk is modelled with such patience that the bark seems almost tactile, while the roots, stones and furrowed ground beneath it are rendered with a density that gives the lower half of the sheet genuine weight. At the same time, the branches dissolve into a softer and more elusive network of shadow, moss and hanging growth, producing a sense of silence that feels nearly otherworldly. This tension between exact observation and mysterious atmosphere is the key to the work. The drawing is rooted in nature, yet it evokes something more inward and imaginative, almost as if the forest were being seen not only with the eye, but through memory and mood.

Cronholm was born in Dalsland in 1877 and belonged to that distinct generation of Swedish artists who remained close to landscape as both subject and emotional terrain. He studied at Valand under Carl Wilhelmson, and the present drawing belongs convincingly to the mature early phase that followed this training. Published biographical accounts describe him not only as a painter and draughtsman, but also as an engineer. That dual identity feels especially relevant here. The work has the structural clarity of someone accustomed to exactitude, yet it never becomes dry or merely descriptive. On the contrary, it is precisely the balance between discipline and feeling that gives the drawing its authority.

The drawing is signed D. Strid rather than Cronholm, he often used this form, in reference to his father Per Strid-Cronholm. An official church survey from Dalsland records an earlier altarpiece in Brålanda church painted by “D Strid,” which shows that the name was used by Cronholm in a public and serious artistic context.