Hugo Birger
"Badbrygga vid stranden av Engelska kanalen" (Jetty on the beach of the English Channel)
Signed Hugo Birger and dated Villerville 1886. Canvas 47 x 62 cm.
Provenance
Originally in the collection of H. Heyman (acquired directly from the artist for 500 frcs).
Svenska Handelsbanken.
Managing director Ernfrid Browaldh, Stockholm.
Managing director Tore Browaldh, Stockholm.
Art dealer Harry Runnqvist.
Bukowski auktioner AB, Stockholm, Sale 434, "Höstauktionen", 28-31 October 1985, lot 60 (under the title "Badbrygga", illustrated full page in the catalogue, Pl. 48).
Private collection (acquired at the above Sale).
Bruun Rasmussen Kunstauktioner, Stockholm, "Premiärauktion. Skandinavisk konst före och efter sekelskiftet", 7 May 1992, lot 26 (under the title "Badbryggan", illustrated in colour in the catalogue p. 33).
Private collection (acquired at the above Sale).
Exhibitions
Theodor Blanchs Konstsalong, Stockholm, "Konstnärsförbundets utställning", Oct-Nov 1886, no. 16 (under the title "Vid en fransk badort").
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, "Opponenterna av 1885. Utställning till sextioårsminnet av det första moderna genombrottet i svensk konst", 16 March-16 May 1945, no. 72 (under the title "Badbrygga vid stranden").
Stiftelsen Modums Blaafarvevaerk, "Somrene i Normandie -fra Monet til Strindberg og Thaulow", 30 April-2 Oct 1994, no. 17 (under the title "Badbrygga, Villerville", illustrated full page in colour in the catalogue p. 32).
Literature
Sixten Strömbom, "Hugo Birger. En levnadsteckning", 1947, mentioned pp. 249-251, illustrated full page in colour, Pl. IV and catalogued p. 340, no. 231.
Bo Wingren, "Tillbaka till Normandie. Nordiska konstnärer i Normandie 1850-1900", 1992, illustrated p. 178 (under the title "Badbrygga, Villerville").
More information
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Designer
Hugo Birger was a Swedish visual artist born in Stockholm, where he studied at the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Birger later travelled to Paris where he spent time with Carl Larsson and Carl Skånberg, and he later had his debut in a Paris Salon. Birger was highly active in Spain and France, where he had a shared studio with Ernst Josephson. Due to Birger’s severe rheumatism, the artist chose to make the Mediterranean into his permanent home due to its warm climate. Birger’s most famous artwork is "Skandinaviska konstnärernas frukost på Café Ledoyen" from 1886 which depicts a breakfast setting shared amongst Birger’s colleagues in Paris featuring Alfred Wahlberg and Georg Pauli. Birger's paintings are executed with great skill and lively coloration, showcasing his mastery in capturing sunlight.
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