Lena Cronqvist
Covered by droit de suite
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"Flicka med glaskolv"
Signed Lena Cronqvist on verso. Canvas 117.5 x 152 cm.
Provenance
Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm. Acquired by the present owner in 2003.
More information
Ever since her debut in 1965 at Galerie Pierre in Stockholm, Lena Cronqvist has fascinated and moved people with her strong depictions of what it means to be human. Her paintings leave nobody unmoved. The pictures gnaw and chafe at you, and maybe it’s because we do not instinctively know how to relate to them that they stay with us long after we have viewed them. Her work incorporates both the tragic and the comic, and few artists manage to balance these opposite poles on a knife edge as well as Lena Cronqvist. Nor is the fact that the woman in the painting bears a resemblance to the artist herself so remarkable; using yourself as a model is simple, because the model is always available. Individual experience and the private sphere provide Lena Cronqvist with her inexhaustible source of inspiration. As an artist, she has painted her way through life’s ups and downs, arriving at something deeply human thanks to her own experiences. We encounter our own dreams and apprehensions in her work; we encounter memories, hopes and fears. But above all we encounter the lust for life.
Artist
Lena Cronqvist is born and raised in Karlstad. Her interest for the arts came early in her life, and she spent the first year of her studies in England, near Bristol’s Art School. Upon her arrival back in Sweden, Cronqvist began a short-lived education at Konstfack, leaving to study painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. When examining Lena Cronqvist's painting, it delves into "painting" in its more traditional sense. She is indeed a painter in the grand modern tradition, frequently turning to Edvard Munch and Francis Bacon’s art as inspirational sources. Yet she also had numerous art historical references and a deep love for the craft. Cronqvist excelled as a colourist, finding harmony in the most unusual colour combinations – few have managed to paint warmth and cold successfully at the same time. Her subject matter is often perceived as challenging and overly private by many. She often models herself for her art, posing in mundane situations imbued with a sharp psychological character. Her “Modonna-pictures” from the 1970s are a good example of this. She turns our gaze away from the conventional, notably in her portrayal and depiction of girls, which is fascinating. Cronqvist depicts these girls as ugly, simple, and altogether uncomfortable – a great contrast to how woman were normally portrayed in art. In more recent years, Lena Cronqvist has studied the effect of aging, using herself as a study. Moreover, Cronqvist is a very successful sculptor, and several of her works in bronze have been sold great sums in the auction world. She is also gifted in graphic productions, of which “Strindbergsmappen” is the most well-known. Among her most renowned works is "The Betrothal," a paraphrase of Jan van Eyck's symbol-laden painting "The Arnolfini Portrait." In Cronqvist's reinterpretation, artist and husband Göran Tunström are the main characters, with equally weighty symbolism but carrying entirely different meanings. Where van Eyck's painting features a loyal dog, Cronqvist replaces it with a cat—a symbol of independence.
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