"I soffhörnet"
Signed Birger and dated Paris -80. Canvas 100.5 x 81 cm.
Mr. J. Rubenson.
Mr. Adolf Aaron, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mrs. Vera Aaron (née Stendahl), Stockholm.
Private collection.
Theodor Blanchs Konst-Salon, Kungsträdgården, Stockholm, "Från Seinens strand". Svenska artisternas i Paris utställning, April 1885, no. 10.
Sixten Strömbom, "Hugo Birger. En levnadsteckning", 1947, mentioned p. 104, illustrated full page, p. 107 and catalogued p. 315, no. 81. Compare study in pencil "I soffhörnet" (41 x 31 cm, signed and dated Birger Paris -80, Göteborgs Konstmuseum), illustrated p. 103.
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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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