"Räf som lurar på trastar" (Fox in wait for thrushes)
Signed Bruno Liljefors and dated -87. Canvas 61.5 x 46 cm.
Bukowski Auktioner, Stockholm, Sale 466, "Internationella vårauktionen", 25-28 April 1989, lot 119 (illustrated full page in colour in the catalogue, p. 41).
Private collection (acquired at the above Sale).
Bukowski Auktioner, Stockholm, Sale 520, "Internationella vårauktionen", 29-31 May 2001, lot 122 (illustrated full page in colour in the catalogue, p. 57).
Private collection (acquired at the above Sale).
ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, Copenhagen, "Johannes Larsen & Bruno Liljefors. Livet i naturen", 2005 (illustrated full page in the catalogue under the title "Raev som lurer på drosler").
Allan Ellenius, "Bruno Liljefors -Naturen som livsrum", 1996, illustrated full page in colour, p. 60.
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Bruno Liljefors is the Swedish artist best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially in dramatic situations. Liljefors started with studies at the Academy of Arts in 1879, and continued 1882 in Düsseldorf where the studies revolved around animal painting. The journey then continued to Venice, Rome, Naples, Paris and Grez. Once back in Sweden, he began to draw and paint animals, especially cats and small birds, from the beginning in intimate interaction with nature. He then moved on to broader depictions of wild animals and nature, of seascapes with seabirds and of dramatic scenes of battles between birds. Liljefors is known as our country's foremost animal painter with a large production. Liljefors depicted, in contrast to the "idyllic" animal painting, the animals everyday life with a focus on movement, anatomy and their adaptation to the landscape. This is where the greatness of his painting lies, in the ability to show the animals in their proper environment. He has achieved this by hunting and observing. Well-known works of art are the paintings "Rävfamilj" (1886) and "Havsörnar" (1897), as well as the sculpture "Lek" (1930) at Stockholm Stadium. Liljefors is mainly represented at the National Museum, Waldemarsudde and the Thielska gallery in Stockholm.
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