No connection to server
Theme auctions online
From Tradition to Modernity: 200 Years of Finnish Rya rugs E1135
Auction:
Prints & Multiples Winter Edition F581
Auction:
Hans Wigert – Paintings and Prints F617
Auction:
Selected Carpets and Textiles F600
Auction:
Modern Art Online – Winter Exhibition F533
Auction:
SPECIAL EFFECTS – Stockholm Design Week 2025 E1087
Auction:
Swedish Art Glass – Winter edition F539
Auction:
Contemporary Art Online – Winter Exhibition F532
Auction:
Live auctions
Contemporary Art & Design 662
Auction: April 15−16, 2025
Important Timepieces 663
Auction: April 15, 2025
Modern Art & Design 664
Auction: May 20−21, 2025
Important Spring Sale 665
Auction: June 11−13, 2025
848
1555074

August Malmström

(Sweden, 1829-1901)
Estimate
500 000 - 600 000 SEK
44 600 - 53 600 EUR
45 300 - 54 300 USD
Hammer price
Unsold
Purchasing info
For condition report contact specialist
Rasmus Sjöbeck
Stockholm
Rasmus Sjöbeck
Assistant Specialist Classic Art
+46 (0)727 33 24 02
August Malmström
(Sweden, 1829-1901)

"Vill frun köpa?"

Oil on canvas 119 x 91 cm.

Provenance

Lawyer Emil Heijnes Collection.
Private Collection, Sweden.
Bukowski Auktioner, Internationella Vårauktionen 466, 25 - 28 April 1989, lot 168.
Private Collection, Sweden.

Exhibitions

Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, "Barnet i konsten", 1941, cat. no. 188.

Literature

Tomas Björk, "August Malmström - Grindslantens målare och 1800-talets bildvärld ", 1997, mentioned p. 226 and illustrated p. 227.

More information

Children motifs play a significant role in August Malmström's oeuvre, particularly within his genre painting. Today, we know of about 40 oil paintings by the artist featuring children, in addition to numerous sketches, replicas, and lithographs. "Vill frun köpa?" (Would the lady like to buy?) is one of the most famous children motifs from Malmström's later period. Around the mid-19th century, he resumed painting children but now did so in larger formats which allowed for a freer brushwork and new compositional patterns. Tomas Björk writes about the motif: "In the interplay between the richly varied shades of blue, red, and brown, the painting is one of the most colouristically refined among the artist's later children motifs."

The painting in the auction is an unsigned replica of the original painting. It was common for Malmström to create replicas of his most popular works. The first version was usually shown at a major exhibition, and if the motif was well-received by the audience, the artist typically received commissions for additional versions. Regarding the current replica up for auction, Björk writes: "In the estate, there was such a version of 'Vill frun köpa?' which, by all accounts, was created after the exhibited version. It is unsigned but possesses the finish associated with other executed works. Malmström also introduced a few minor changes that are only noticeable upon close inspection. Almost the entire motif has been copied from the original version, but the toy horse has been moved to the foreground, and the shawl around the shoulders of the seated girl has been omitted. In replicas, Malmström seems to have avoided creating a direct copy of the original version. This approach may indicate that he believed improvements were always possible, or he wanted to endow his replicas with the status of 'originals'."