Ivan Aguéli
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"Egyptiskt landskap"
Canvas laid down on paper panel 18.5 x 22 cm.
Provenance
Land surveyor Axel Widing, Sunne, Sweden
Marianne Widing (as a gift 2 January 1959 according to inscription verso)
Bukowski Auktioner AB, auction 512, Internationella Vårauktionen, May 26-28,1999, cat. no. 2.
Rolf Schmitz Collection.
Exhibitions
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, "John Gustaf Agelii. Med konstnärsnamnet Ivan Aguéli", May-June 1939, cat. no. 164 (under the title "Landskap från Sierra Leone").
More information
Ivan Aguéli's unique and groundbreaking artistic work was only recognized in Sweden after his death. In 1917, the artist died in a railway accident in Barcelona at the age of 48. He spent a significant portion of his life living abroad, and at the time of the accident, his paintings were scattered around the world. In 1920, artists Prins Eugen, Richard Bergh, and Carl Wilhelmson collected 200 of his works, and 136 of them were exhibited at the Konstnärsförbundets AB Konstverk sales venue on Strandvägen in Stockholm. This was the first major exhibition of his artistic career and served as an important introduction to Aguéli in Sweden. He was one of the great innovators in Swedish art during the early 20th century, and his art looked ahead to modernism. Small-scale landscape painting became one of his trademarks and is often characterized by a cool and subdued palette, an exciting interplay of color fields, and a strong presence of sunlight.