"Musikstilleben - Hommage á Beethoven"
Signed GAN. Executed 1921 in Paris. Pencil drawing on paper 16 x 22 cm.
Stockholms Auktionsverk, Ragnar von Holtens samling, 17 mars, 2010, cat no 191.
Acquired by Jan Torsten Ahlstrand at the above sale.
Liljevalchs konsthall 6 April - 20 May 1984, Malmö konsthall 29 June - 26 August 1984, "GAN - Gösta Adrian-Nilsson 1884 - 1965", cat no 23.
Illustrated in catalogue for the exhibition on Liljevalchs konsthall 6 April - 20 May 1984, Malmö konsthall 29 June - 26 August 1984, p. 84.
Ragnar von Holten, "Mot väggen", 1996, p. 16.
Gösta Adrian-Nilsson is most notable as a visual artist, and he is a pioneer of Swedish modernism. He studied at the Tekniske Selskabs Skole in Copenhagen and later for Johan Rohde at Zahrtmann’s school in Copenhagen. As an avant-gardist, Nilsson was constantly searching for new influences. In Berlin, he was influenced by the circle around the radical magazine Der Sturm, through Kandinsky and och Franz Marc. In Paris through Fernand Legér and the artists in his circle. GAN was an eclectic in the positive sense of the word. He took the the artist styles of the 1900s and created new impressions. Symbolism, cubism, futurism, expressionism, constructivim and Theosophy were the colours occupying his internal pallet. He had a sharp eye for the masculine and his painting was often energized by the vitality of modern technology, vibrant eroticism, and echoes of tyrants. No other Swedish modern artist exhibits such a unique style.
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