Erik Tryggelin - Storm Clouds over Vadstena
Regular price 33,077.00 krErik Tryggelin (1878–1962) Sweden
Storm Clouds over Vadstena, 8 August 1946
signed and dated lower right E. Tryggelin 8/8 1946
inscribed Vadstena lower left
oil on canvas laid on masonite
unframed 19.5 × 27.5 cm (7.7 × 10.8 in)
framed 30 × 39 cm (11.8 × 15.4 in)
presented in a new black frame with silver inner edge
Provenance:
Swedish private collection
Essay:
This expressive landscape was executed in Vadstena on 8 August 1946 and captures the dramatic moment just before or during a summer storm over the plains surrounding Lake Vättern. Erik Tryggelin focuses on the vast sky, where heavy clouds gather in powerful formations above the open landscape. The horizon lies low in the composition, allowing the sky to dominate the scene and emphasizing the movement and tension of the approaching weather.
The clouds are painted with broad and fluid brushstrokes that blend tones of blue, grey, violet, and warm rose. Their shifting colours suggest changing light within the storm front. In the left part of the sky a sharp flash of lightning breaks through the cloud mass, illuminating the atmosphere for a brief instant. This striking detail gives the painting a sense of immediacy, as if the artist recorded the scene directly while observing the storm over the landscape.
Below the dramatic sky stretches the flat countryside around Vadstena. Fields extend toward the distant horizon, while a cluster of trees appears to the right, providing a quiet counterbalance to the turbulent sky above. The land itself is rendered with calm horizontal strokes, reinforcing the contrast between the stillness of the ground and the restless movement of the clouds.
Erik Tryggelin often painted small, quickly executed studies that captured fleeting atmospheric conditions. Although he is widely known for his views of Stockholm and other historic towns, landscapes such as this one reveal his deep interest in light, weather, and the changing moods of nature. His training at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and later studies in Paris exposed him to impressionist methods, which can be seen here in the loose brushwork and the emphasis on momentary visual impressions.
Vadstena, situated on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern, offered Tryggelin a setting of broad horizons and shifting weather. The open landscape around the town allows the sky to dominate the visual experience, and this painting transforms that expansive sky into the principal subject of the work. The result is a vivid atmospheric study that conveys both the calm of the countryside and the sudden drama of a summer storm.
Condition report:
The painting is in very fine condition with clear and well preserved colours. The surface has recently been professionally cleaned, revealing the freshness of the palette and the vitality of the brushwork. Small pinholes are present in the corners, original to the artist’s practice of attaching his works with drawing pins when exhibiting. The painting is presented in a new black frame with a silver inner edge.
Sources
Nationalmuseum, artist records for Erik Tryggelin
Stockholms stadsmuseum, material on Erik Tryggelin and his artistic practice
Konstnärslexikonett Amanda, entry on Erik Tryggelin
General literature on Swedish landscape painting of the early twentieth century
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