Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815–1875) Sweden

Resting Dromedar, 1861

watercolour heightened with white
unframed 21 x 29.2 cm (8 ¼ x 11 ½ in.)
framed 40 x 48 cm (15 ¾ x 18 ⅞ in.)

Provenance:
Sale, Stockholm, Bukowskis, 12 December 1894, lot 42;
Signe and Ernst Trygger (1857–1943), Villa Trygger, Stockholm. Ernst Trygger was Swedish Prime Minister (1923–24), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1928–30) and University Chancellor (1926–37);  A Swedish private collection. 

Literature:
Förteckning på oljemålningar, aquareller och handteckningar m.m. av Egron Lundgren utställda i Akademien för de fria konsterna, 1876, no. 259.
Karl Asplund, Egron Lundgren, Vol. II, 1940, p. 40, note 1, p. 166.

Exhibited:
The Royal Academy, Egron Lundgren, 10 April 1876, no. 259.
Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening, Memorial Exhibition, February 1915, no. 70, Hvilande kameler (owner Ernst Trygger).
The Royal Academy, Svenska Akvareller (Swedish Watercolor Exhibition), 1925, no. 224, Vilande kameler (owner Signe Trygger).

Essay:
This delicate watercolour, executed during Lundgren’s first journey to Egypt in the winter of 1861–62, depicts a resting dromedary in the shade at Giza. Painted in transparent washes with touches of white gouache, the work captures the intense desert light and atmosphere with a remarkable immediacy. The reclining animal dominates the composition, rendered in warm ochres and browns against a cool, shadowy background, while highlights on its saddle and coat give the scene a subtle radiance. The quiet stillness of the subject reflects Lundgren’s sensitivity to the everyday motifs of the Orient, which he observed and painted directly on site.

Lundgren travelled to Egypt in the company of two British artists, Frank Dillon (1823-1909) and George Price Boyce (1926-1897). They initially rented a house by the Nile in the village of Giza, living in what Lundgren described as “oriental style,” before moving on to Cairo in January 1862. From there, they explored and painted the surrounding landscape, monuments, and urban life. The presence of camels and dromedaries in daily scenes around the Nile provided him with natural subjects for study. This watercolour likely belongs to that body of work, in which Lundgren combined sharp observation with a painterly freshness, setting him apart from the more academic studio-bound orientalists of his time.

On 15th January Lundgren wrote from Kairo (G. Nordensvan, Egron Lundgren, Reseskildringar, anteckningar och bref, 1905, p. 248):

”Vårt fattiga lilla Gizeh med sina lerhus och palmer, tält och kameler snarare hviskar ännu om patriarkernas tidsålder och tycks vara så gammalt som Genesis. Glittrar den breda Nilen ännu såsom när Moses stod på dess strand, och i stilla kvällen, när fårskockar och getter, lägra sig nere vid vattenbrynet, sitta de trötta herdarna i aftonsolen så bruna som om de var var porfyrstoder, nyss uppgrävda från något underjordiskt tempel. Här flyger Ibis ännu över de tysta vattendragen  i palmskogarna, och om natten går månen upp på den underligt klara stjärnhimmeln och tyckes liksom söka sin gamla Isis-dyrkan. De mysteriösa, uråldriga pyramiderna stodo hvar morgon där spöklika, gåtlika med den tomma öknen bakom sig, och det var därföre icke att undra på om dagen blev full af drömmar om långt förflutna tider.” (“Our poor little Giza with its mud houses and palm trees, tents and camels rather still whispers of the age of the patriarchs and seems to be as old as Genesis. Does the wide Nile still glitter as when Moses stood on its banks?, and in the still evening, when sheepherds and goats, camp down by the water's edge, the weary shepherds sit in the evening sun as brown as if they were pillars of porphyry, just dug up from some subterranean temple. Here the ibis still flies over the quiet watercourses in the palm groves, and at night the moon rises in the strangely clear starry sky and seems to seek her old worship of Isis. The mysterious, ancient pyramids stood every morning ghostly, enigmatic with the empty desert behind them, and it was therefore no wonder if the day became full of dreams of times long past.”

In En målares anteckningar (A Painters diary), Vol. III, 1873, Lundgren writes in details about his stay in Egypt. His description of the house they rented in Gizeh is of great interest since it shows that foreign artists lived a most comfortable life when they visited the orient, also remote parts (p. 12):

”Vi tåga in och taga i besittning ett stort stenhus, som tillhörde Fuad el Pascha. Nilen sqvalpade upp mot ena sidan så att vi hade kunnat meta från fönsterna. Huset var för övrigt alldeles tomt,  så att vi måste från Cairo låta hämta husgeråd, sängkläder, betjening, en kock med tillbehör och mycket, som icke omtalas i tusen och en natt, men som ändock är svårt att undvara. Det blev också nödvändigt att skaffa oss ett slags österländsk klädebonad för att kunna vara mer ogenerade, och såsom skydd mot solhettan lindades turbaner omkring hattarna; min var broderad med gult silke, som lyste likt guld. Vi redo på små smalbenta borickor [åsnor]  med granna utstickande marokindsadlar, och var och en hade sin löpare efter sig. /Vårt hus låg , som sagt, alldeles ned vid  flodbrädden och över porten hängde, enligt bruket i Egypten, skinnet af en stor krokodil, vilket tros, om icke medföra lycka åtminstone skrämma bort mycket ont och vara en talisman emot all slags förtrollning. Vi hade en portfaktare, Mahommed,  en gammal gråskäggige Nubier, och dessutom två karlar, Ibrahim kammartjenare och Abdallah kock. / I övre våningen hade vi flera rymliga och ljusa rum med divaner och balkonger, ifrån hvilka utsikterna voro vidsträckta och vackra.” (We march in and take possession of a large stone house, which belonged to Fuad el Pascha. The Nile squalled up to one side so that we could have ten fishing from the windows. The house was otherwise completely empty, so that we had to have order household utensils, bedding, servants, a cook with accessories and much more from Cairo, which is not mentioned in a thousand and one nights, but which is nevertheless difficult to do without. It also became necessary to get us a kind of Eastern clothing in order to be more insolent, and as a protection against the heat of the sun turbans were wrapped around the hats; mine was embroidered with yellow silk, which shone like gold. We were ready on small narrow-legged boricas [donkeys] with protruding moroccon saddles, and each had his runner behind him. / Our house was, as I have mentioned, located by the river and over the gate hung, according to the custom in Egypt, the skin of a large crocodile, which is believed to, if not bring happiness, at least scare away much evil and be a talisman against all kinds of enchantment. We had a porter, Mahommed, an old grey-bearded Nubian, and also two men, Ibrahim the butler and Abdallah the cook. / On the upper floor we had several spacious and bright rooms with divans and balconies, from which the views were extensive and beautiful.)

The Egyptian journey marked an important stage in Lundgren’s career. Already well established as a painter of Spanish scenes and as a celebrated war correspondent and artist during the Indian Rebellion, he now turned his attention to the landscapes and people of the Middle East. The Orientalist subjects he produced in Egypt resonated with the European fascination for the exotic and the ancient, but they also carry a sense of authenticity, born from direct encounter and the spontaneity of watercolour.

Lundgren’s international career had taken him from studies in Paris and Rome to long residencies in Spain and London, where he gained the patronage of Queen Victoria. His mastery of watercolour brought him election to the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1864, and his works were admired both in Sweden and abroad. The Egyptian sojourn of 1861–62 enriched his oeuvre with luminous Orientalist motifs, among which Resting Dromedar stands as a fine example. Exhibited in Sweden on several occasions, including the memorial exhibition of 1915, and with a provenance linking it to the Trygger collection, the painting today survives as both a lyrical desert study and a cultural document of Lundgren’s artistic journeys.

References

• Egron Lundgren, En målares anteckningar (A Painter’s Diary), Vols. I–III, 1871–73.
• Karl Asplund, Egron Lundgren, Vols. I–II, Stockholm, 1914–40.
• J. L. Roget, A History of the Old Watercolour Society, Vol. II, London 1891.
• G. Nordensvan, Egron Lundgren. Reseskildringar, anteckningar och bref, Stockholm, 1905.
• Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, “Egron S. Lundgren.”
• Nationalmuseum, Svenska akvarellmålare under 1800-talet, exhibition catalogue, Stockholm 1981.

Villa Trygger, erected 1914 after a design by Ivar Tengbom

Egron Lundgren (1815–1875)

Monk in a Monastic Cell

signed and dated Egron Lundgren Rom 1848
oil on relined canvas
unframed 62 x 50 cm (24 ½ x 19 ¾ in.)
framed 79 x 68 cm (31 x 26 ¾ in.)

Essay:
Painted during Lundgren’s formative years in Italy (1847–1853), this work reflects the artist’s deep engagement with both the artistic heritage and the lived culture of central Italy. After settling in Rome, he traveled extensively in the surrounding countryside, including the mountain village of Cervara di Roma in the Sabine range, long celebrated for its rugged scenery, medieval cloisters, and monastic life. It was here, in the autumn of 1848, that Lundgren noted in his diary: “I have now in the autumn painted a monastic cell with a monk.”

The present work gives visual form to that entry. A solitary friar, robed in brown, stands in the sparse interior of his cell. A shaft of light from a narrow window illuminates his features, while beyond lies the radiant Italian landscape. The contrast between the dim interior and the luminous world outside encapsulates the monk’s withdrawal from earthly concerns into spiritual contemplation.

Lundgren’s Italian sojourn was decisive for his artistic development. Immersed in the study of Renaissance and Baroque masters, he simultaneously captured the immediacy of Italian life, from rustic interiors to monastic rituals. His refined chiaroscuro and empathetic rendering here reveal both his fascination with the dignity of religious devotion and his ability to transform observation into poetic imagery.

Literature:
Egron Lundgren, Reseskildringar, anteckningar och bref, collected and published by Georg Nordensvan:
“Vi voro äfven någon tid uppe i Cervara, där jag målade en interiör af en bondstuga m. m., som jag vill skicka hem, äfven har jag nu på hösten målat en klostercell med en munk.”
We also spent some time in Cervara, where I painted the interior of a peasant’s cottage and other subjects, which I wish to send home; I have now in the autumn also painted a monastic cell with a monk.

Egron Sellif Lundgren (Stockholm 1815–1875 Stockholm)

The assassination of George, Duke of Clarence in the Tower of London; A Scene from Shakespeare’s Richard III (Act I, scene 4)

Authenticated by Karl Asplund (1890–1978) 15 March 1966 on the reverse.¹

Oil on canvas
unframed 25.2 x 36.7 cm (9 ⅞ x 14 ½ in.)
framed 39 x 51 cm (15 ⅜ x 20 ⅛ in.)
Original gilt frame

Painted in London in 1854

Provenance:
In the artist’s possession until his death;
his sale, Stockholm, Bukowskis, Egron Lundgrens efterlämnade samlingar och arbeten, under Oljemålningar [Oil paintings], lot 343 “Richard III, Shakespearescen, Komposition. H. 24, B 36” (105 kronor to Chamberlain (Kammarherre) Robert Montgomery Cederhielm)²

Literature:
Karl Asplund, Egron Lundgren, 1914, Vol. I, 1815–1853, p. 179; Vol. II, 1859–1875, p. 166

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449–1478), was the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets now known as the Wars of the Roses. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London accused of treason and executed.

In February 1854 and in March 1857, Shakespeare’s play Richard III was performed in London starring Charles Kean as Richard III. The script was based on Colley Cibber’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play from 1699, The Tragical History of King Richard III, Alter’d from Shakespeare.

In Shakespeare’s play, without historical proofs, Richard, the Earl of Gloucester, later King Richard III, ordered his brother’s imprisonment in the Tower of London and had him assassinated. Contrary to Shakespeare’s original play, in which there are two assassins, Cibber has limited it to one assassin.

Soon after his arrival in London from Spain in the autumn 1853, Lundgren was introduced to Queen Victoria from whom he received commissions to depict life at the court. Soon she also commissioned him to illustrate her favorite plays by Shakespeare that regularly were performed in the London theatres. Queen Victoria was a great admirer of Shakespeare, making notes about his works in her journal, enjoying live performances and commissioning painting scenes inspired by his plays. In 1864, William Perry, woodcarver to Queen Victoria, carved a bust of William Shakespeare, from a portion of Herne’s Oak, a tree that has been immortalised by Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. A special casket was also made to hold Shakespeare’s famous First Folio inside.

In his two-volume book on Lundgren, Karl Asplund devotes considerable length to Lundgren’s illustrations after Shakespeare and his role as court painter to Queen Victoria.

¹ Karl Asplund worked at Bukowskis Konsthandel from 1916 and was its director between 1929 and 1953
² Robert Montgomery Cederhielm (1851–1932) had inherited a number of manor houses and castles. His principal seat was Segersjö Manor, Lännäs, in the County of Västmanland

Image: Segersjö Manor

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815–1875) Sweden

Interior of a Kitchen, c. 1840

oil on paper laid on cardboard,
inscribed “Lundgren Nr. 15” on the reverse.
unframed 27.5 x 20.5 cm (10 ¾ x 8 in.)
framed 37 x 30 cm (14 ½ x 11 ¾ in.)

Provenance:
Chief Physician Karl Martin (†1936);
his estate sale, Stockholm, Bukowskis, 22 April 1936, cat. no. 305, lot 37: “Egron Lundgren, Interior with Still Life. Study from the 1840s” (sold for 120 SEK to Director Gösta Stenman (1888–1947), Stockholm).

Essay:
Lundgren stayed in Paris from 1839 to 1841 as a scholarship holder of the Royal Academy, studying under Léon Cogniet (1794–1880). From there he travelled on to Rome, where he remained until 1849. No oil paintings from his Paris years are known, only pencil sketches.

The present work, executed in Rome during the 1840s, is one of four oil sketches once in the collection of Chief Physician Karl Martin, which were dispersed after his death at the Bukowskis sale on 22 April 1936 (lots 35–38). The others were Roman Choir Boy, Interior with a Boy, and Prison Interior, all of similar size. Two of these were acquired by Director Gösta Stenman.

The kitchen depicted here is situated below ground level, as indicated by the vaulted architecture. A pencil drawing in the Nationalmuseum’s collection, Vault with Old Staircase (NMH A 313/1981), undated, shows certain affinities with the present painting.

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815–1875) Sweden

Procession during Holy Week in Seville, Spain

Black ink, pencil, brown and red wash heightened with white on brown paper
201 x 267 mm.

Literature:
Lady Louisa Tenison, Castile and Andalucia, London 1853, lithograph between pp. 201–202
K. Asplund, Egron Lundgren I. 1815–1859, 1914, Vol. I, p. 143, p. 145, illustrating the lithograph

Cf. Literature:
Marta Jiménez Miranda, The special relationship between text and illustrations in Castilla and Andalucia by Louisa Mary Anne Tenison, University of Córdoba, Spain, 2022, p. 245, fig. 5

Drawn in 1852 during the artist’s stay in Spain between 1849–53. Preparatory drawing for a lithograph in Lady Louisa Tenison’s Castile and Andalucia from 1853. Lady King Tenison (1819–1882) was the wife of the Irish photographer and politician Edward King Tenison. Between 1850 and 1852, King Tenison and his wife travelled in Spain for their artwork. As an early adopter of the calotype photographic process, he aroused suspicion and curiosity due to his bulky equipment and outdoor work. The work was later published as Memories of Spain in 1854, while his wife's 50 lithographs appeared in Castile and Andalucia in 1853. In 1853, he joined the Photographic Society of London, and first displayed his work at the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. The next year, he then helped to found the Dublin Photographic Society.

In the preface of her book Lady King Tenison writes:

“The landscape and architectural drawings are from my own sketches, but the figures are from the pencil of Mr. Egron Lundgren, a Swedish artist now residing in Seville, whose admirable delineations of Spanish life and customs are well known to those who have had the pleasure of visiting his studio.”

Travelers’ books show an evolution of Holy Week as the centuries go by. From the 16th century, when travelers saw penance and the processional steps as an act of faith, until the 18th century, when they began to criticize the most irrational customs and the lack of faith of many participants who sought social prestige through the celebration or to hide immoral behavior. Lady King Tenison writes about the subject of the present work:

“The images or pasos belong to certain religious associations called Cofradias. Founded in days gone by, when faith prompted people to attend them, and look on them with some feelings of reverential awe; but that spirit has passed away, and now they are chiefly supported by the innkeepers and tradesmen of the town, who contribute largely to their funds, not from any devotional zeal, but as a source of profit, and from the knowledge that they attract a crowd of both natives and foreigners, and thus afford them an opportunity of considerably improving their temporal interests.”

In his two-volume book on Egron Lundgren, Karl Asplund writes about the subject (op. cit., p. 143):

“Processionen är som en scenbild ur någon opera à la Carmen; man tycker sig höra orkestermarschen, under vilken hela ensemblen tågar in och uppfyller scenen till en final.”
(“The procession is like a scene from some opera à la Carmen; you think you hear the orchestral march, during which the whole ensemble marches in and fills the stage for a finale.”)

Holy Week in Spain is the annual tribute of the Passion of Jesus Christ celebrated by Catholic religious brotherhoods (Spanish: cofradía) and fraternities that perform penance processions on the streets of almost every Spanish city and town during the last week of Lent, the week immediately before Easter. The processions incorporate different scenes from the Passion of Christ. Every brotherhood carries magnificent Pasos or floats with sculptures that depict different scenes from the gospels related to the Passion of Christ or the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary. Brotherhoods have owned and preserved these Pasos for centuries in some cases. Usually, the Pasos are accompanied by marching bands performing Marchas procesionales, a specific type of composition devoted to the images and fraternities. Since Holy Week coincides with Palm Sunday, the feast also commemorates Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In many Catholic and Episcopal denominations, worship services on Palm Sunday include a procession of the faithful carrying palms, representing the palm branches the crowd scattered in front of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem.

The celebration of Holy Week regarding popular piety relies almost exclusively on the processions of the brotherhoods or fraternities. These associations have their origins in the Middle Ages, but a number of them were created during the Baroque period. The membership is usually open to any Catholic person, and family tradition is an important element to become a member or “brother” (hermano). Historically, the flagellants are the origin of the current traditions, as they flogged themselves to do penance. Pope Clement VI ordered that flagellants could perform penance only under control of the Church; he decreed Inter sollicitudines (“inner concerns”). This is considered one of the reasons why flagellants often hid their faces.

A common feature in Spain is the almost general usage of the nazareno or penitential robe for some of the participants in the processions. This garment consists of a tunic, a hood with conical tip (capirote or coroza) used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak. The use of the capirote or coroza was prescribed in Spain and Portugal by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Men and women who were arrested also had to wear a paper capirote in public as a sign of public humiliation. The colour was different, conforming to the judgement of the office. People who were condemned to be executed wore a red coroza. Other punishments used different colours. When the Inquisition was abolished, the symbol of punishment and penitence was kept in the Catholic brotherhood. The exact colors and forms of the robes depend on the particular procession.

The robes were widely used in the medieval period for penitents, who could demonstrate their penance while still masking their identity, and were part of the uniform of some brotherhoods including the Nazarenos and Fariseos during Easter observances and reenactments in some areas during Holy Week in Spain.

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815-1875) Sweden

Lord Clyde and His Staff

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815-1875) Sweden

Studies of Sheep and Goat Heads, Cairo (c. 1871)

watercolor on paper
unframed 18 x 30 cm (7 ⅛ x 11 ¾ in.)
framed 30 x 41 cm (11 ¾ x 16 ⅛ in.)

This sheet features four close-up studies focusing on the heads of goats or sheep. Each animal’s head is drawn from a different angle: one profile highlights a pair of curved horns, while another face is viewed head-on. Lundgren uses warm brown watercolor washes on off-white paper, adding soft shading to model the contours of the animals’ faces. The simplicity of the sketches – with no background – directs all attention to the animals’ features. Created during Lundgren’s journey to Egypt (c. 1871), this detailed yet understated study exemplifies the artist’s neutral documentation of his surroundings in watercolor.

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815-1875) Sweden

Studies of Goat Heads and Figures, Cairo (c. 1871)

watercolor on paper
visible area 21 x 31 cm (8 ¼ x 12 ¼ in.)
framed 34 x 43 cm (13 ⅜ x 16 ⅞ in.)

Here Lundgren concentrates on individual studies of goats, especially their heads and expressions. In one sketch, a goat faces forward, its distinctive long ears and gentle features carefully rendered. Other small drawings show side views and a pair of goats resting together. Working on brown-toned paper, Lundgren contrasts dark sepia tones with touches of white paint to suggest sunlight on fur and horns. These informal, fragmentary studies give a lively impression of animals observed in the moment. They were likely made in Cairo around 1871, when Lundgren was documenting everyday life in quick watercolor sketches

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815-1875) Sweden

Studies of Goats and Sheep, Cairo (c. 1871)

watercolor on paper
visible area 20.5 x 30.5 cm (8 x 12 in.)
framed 34 x 43.5 cm (13 ⅜ x 17 ⅛ in.)

Swedish artist Egron Lundgren sketched a small herd of goats and sheep resting together in this scene. Two goats recline quietly at the center while another stands nearby, creating a calm, balanced composition. Lundgren uses light brown watercolor washes and fine pencil lines to define the animals on a mostly blank page. The word “Cairo” appears on the sheet, linking it to his visit to Egypt around 1871. Drawn from life, this study showcases Lundgren’s neutral observation of everyday subjects, capturing the gentle posture and natural grouping of the animals he encountered.

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815-1875) Sweden

Goats and Sheep in Various Poses, Cairo (c. 1871)

watercolor on paper
unframed 22.5 x 21 cm (8 ⅞ x 8 ¼ in.)
framed 36 x 33 cm (14 ⅛ x 13 in.)

This study presents multiple views of goats and sheep drawn across a single sheet. Lundgren depicts the animals in different poses – a light-colored goat standing in profile, a dark goat or sheep curled up, and others sketched in outline. He works on tinted paper, applying brown watercolor washes and bold white highlights to make the figures stand out. The use of the gray-brown paper as mid-tone gives depth to the quick sketches. Made during Lundgren’s time in Cairo (circa 1871), the sheet reflects his practice of sketching local animals from life with fluid, spontaneous brushwork