Study after Manet
Signed Peter Dahl and dated -78. Canvas 60 x 50 cm. With dedication verso: "Till Folke E 28-11-96. Tack för boken du skrev (se sid 110). Vännen Peter". The book enclosed.
Folke Edwards
Thence by descent to the present owner.
Folke Edwards, "Peter Dahl", Bonnier Alba, 1996, illustrated p. 110.
"Som konstnär har Peter sett sig som en fullföljare av traditionen. Men samtidigt visar han tidigt att han också är ett barn av den postmoderna eran. Han skifter hamn som det passar honom, ointresserad av att profilera sig genom att odla en konsekvent i en viss stil. Tvärtom kan man få uppfattningen att han njuter av att briljera med olika stilar och historiska referenser. I slutet av 70-talet gör han exempelvis en serie parafraser på 1700- och 1800-tals porträtt, bland annat Édouard Manets flicka vid bardisken (1881)." Folke Edwards, "Peter Dahl", Bonnier Alba, 1996, sid 110.
Peter Dahl is painter, printmaker, sculptor, and author. He was born in Oslo and came to Stockholm during the war years of the 1940s, studying at cadémie Libre in 1957 and then attended the Royal Institute of Art from 1958 to 1963 under the guidance of Lennart Rhode. He worked as a teacher at Gelesborg’s school during the 60s and 70s, and was the head professor of painting at Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg from 1975-79. Dahl paints in an expressive, realistic style with bright colours, sensual figure compositions, his art a vessel for his criticism towards upper class luxury and petty bourgeois environments. Influenced by the expressionism of Francis Bacon, he depicted the sequence of events in Medelsvensson's daydreams about "the sweet life" in the upper social group in a series of images. Over the years, Peter Dahl continued with thematic painting. From 1981 to 1984, he illustrated Fredman's Epistles in 87 pictures.
He is outgoing and often depicts his own life with a touch of self-irony. His work is rooted in Swedish tradition, often revisiting and renewing old themes. In recent years, his style has become softer and more sensual, with his dance and bacchanalian motifs taking on a Rococo-like quality. As a printmaker, Dahl is particularly known for his congenial illustrations of Bellman's "Fredman's Epistles." Peter Dahl is considered one of the great artists of our time, immensely productive and consistently popular.
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