Erik Tryggelin - Sunlight Breaking Through Clouds over Lake Vättern
Regular price 43,066.00 krErik Tryggelin (1878–1962) Sweden
Sunlight Breaking Through Clouds over Lake Vättern, Vadstena, 17–18 August 1948
signed and dated lower right E. Tryggelin 18/8 1948
inscribed Vadstena lower left 17/8
oil on canvas laid on masonite
unframed 26 × 35.5 cm (10.2 × 14 in)
framed 42 × 51 cm (16.5 × 20.1 in)
Provenance:
Swedish private collection
Essay:
This atmospheric landscape, painted over two days in August 1948, depicts the vast expanse of Lake Vättern as seen from the historic town of Vadstena. Erik Tryggelin concentrates the composition on the interplay between sky, water, and light, creating a quiet yet powerful study of atmosphere. The horizon lies low across the canvas, allowing the sky to dominate the scene and emphasizing the dramatic effect of sunlight breaking through the cloud cover.
The painting is built around a restrained palette of luminous blues and cool tonal variations. A large bank of clouds stretches across the sky, rendered in dense yet fluid brushstrokes. At the centre of the cloud mass the sun pierces through, producing a radiant burst of warm colour that contrasts with the surrounding cool tones. This sudden opening in the clouds creates a striking effect of light that cascades downward toward the water.
The reflection of this light appears on the surface of Lake Vättern as a delicate vertical shimmer. Subtle touches of pink, gold, and pale green interrupt the dominant blues, suggesting the fleeting brilliance of sunlight as it filters through the atmosphere. The lake itself is painted with broad, horizontal strokes that convey the gentle movement of the water and the expansive calm of the landscape.
Tryggelin’s brushwork remains loose and expressive throughout the painting. Rather than focusing on precise detail, he allows colour and gesture to convey the sensation of changing weather. The forms of the clouds dissolve into one another, suggesting movement and transformation within the sky. This painterly approach reflects the artist’s long standing interest in capturing transient atmospheric effects.
Erik Tryggelin was born in Stockholm in 1878 and studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts before continuing his training in Paris. Over the course of his career he worked as painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and photographer. His art frequently explores the relationship between landscape and atmosphere, particularly in scenes where light transforms otherwise simple motifs.
The shores of Lake Vättern offered Tryggelin a setting ideally suited to this interest. The open horizon and expansive sky create dramatic conditions for observing light and cloud formations. In this painting the artist transforms that wide landscape into a refined study of illumination, where a single burst of sunlight becomes the central event of the composition.
Condition report:
The painting is in very fine condition with clear and well preserved colours. The paint surface remains stable and the subtle tonal transitions are well retained. Small pinholes are visible in the corners, original to the artist’s practice of attaching his works with drawing pins when exhibiting. The painting is presented in a frame in good condition.
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