Clara Löfgren - Pergola Noor

Clara Löfgren (1843–1923) Sweden

Pergola Noor, c.1890

oil on canvas laid down on board
unframed: 27.7 x 26.7 cm (10.9 x 10.5 in)
framed: 35 x 34 cm (13.8 x 13.4 in)

Provenance:
Likely owned by the artist Olof Hermelin (his name inscribed on the reverse)

Essay:
Clara Löfgren’s Pergola Noor is an intimate oil painting from around 1890, depicting a sunlit pergola overgrown with flowering vines. The composition captures a quiet corner of a garden, where dappled sunlight filters through the trellis and foliage, casting delicate patterns across a winding path. The interplay of light and shadow is rendered with sensitivity and warmth, creating an atmosphere of stillness and summer serenity. The title, Pergola Noor, alludes to this radiant quality—noor meaning "light"—a fitting reference to the way illumination permeates the scene and infuses it with softness and life.

This small-format work, executed in oil on canvas laid down on board, possesses a jewel-like quality. Its near-square proportions heighten the sense of intimacy, drawing the viewer into the secluded garden space. The name of fellow artist Olof Hermelin appears on the back, suggesting the work may have once belonged to him. This link between artists of the period offers an intriguing layer of historical connection and shared aesthetic sensibility.

At the time Pergola Noor was painted, Clara Löfgren was an accomplished artist with formal training from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and further studies in Munich and Paris. Though best known for her portraits—including royal commissions—she was equally adept in landscape and genre scenes. The garden motif of Pergola Noor reflects the influence of plein-air painting and the 19th century’s growing interest in capturing transient effects of light in nature. The treatment of atmosphere and subtle tonal transitions places Löfgren in dialogue with broader European trends of the era.

Clara Löfgren belonged to a generation of Swedish women artists whose work was admired in their time but later undervalued in art history. Alongside peers such as Julia Beck and Emma Ekwall, she navigated a male-dominated art world with determination and skill. These artists built respected careers and exhibited widely, yet their contributions were often overlooked for much of the 20th century. In recent years, however, interest in their work has resurged, and scholars and institutions are now acknowledging the significant role they played in shaping Scandinavian art.