"Twilight"
Signed G. Kallstenius and dated 1922. Canvas 80 x 123 cm.
Adolf Anderbergs Konsthandel, Malmö
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, USA, 22nd International Exhibition of Paintings, 26 april - 17 juni,1923, kat. nr 330 (med titeln ”Twilight").
Kulturhuset, Västervik, "Gottfrid Kallstenius 1861-1943. Minnesutställning", 14 november - 19 december, 1993, kat. nr 37 (med titel ”Solnedgång").
Artist's catalogue 1922, "”Afton vid stranden (Tättö) 80 x 120".
The view is taken from Tättö towards Vivassen, the name of the sound located outside Loftahammar, in the northern archipelago of Tjust. In 1904, Kallstenius built a summer house with an accompanying studio outside Loftahammar, next to the Källvik spa. The house was located at Djupsundet, opposite Tättö, the entrance by sea to Loftahammar.
The international exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1923, in which the current painting was included, was extensive. In addition to Kallstenius, several well-known Swedish artists were represented, including Anders Zorn, Bruno Liljefors, and J. A. G. Acke. The original title of the painting was "A la côte de Baltique,” which was changed to "Twilight" in the exhibition catalog.
In a review of the exhibition on October 30, 1923, in La Revue Moderne, No. 20, p. 19-21, the French art critic Clément Morro devoted significant space to Kallstenius. Regarding the current painting, it was said:
"Professor Gottfried Kallstenius, from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, rightfully considered one of the best painters of his time, participated in the recently shown exhibition in Pittsburgh with a very beautifully executed landscape, which highlights his remarkable qualities as a colourist as well as his talent as a deep and sensitive Nordic poet. Gottfried Kallstenius is, in fact, an author who, in addition to technical writings on painting methods, has published poems. His painting itself is sufficient to reveal a man of letters, as such expressive works, even in simple landscapes, but even more so in the important symbolic compositions in which he has become a master, demonstrate a deep general education that even precedes pictorial technique. / His successes have been many. The most significant awards he has received are two gold medals in Munich, one in Rome, as well as in San Francisco, Saint Louis, Buenos Aires. A large number of his canvases are displayed in prominent places in museums in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Brighton, Lübeck, Munich, Helsinki, Budapest, as well as in America. We hope to receive some works from this world-renowned artist in our country in the near future, where they would undoubtedly receive the best reception."
Adolf Anderberg (1885-1968), the first known owner of the current painting, was a Ph.D. at Lund University and program director at Radiotjänst in Malmö from 1925. He was also an art dealer and published several art-historical works, including the standard work "Carl Fredrik Hill" (1928).