Dancing Figure
Signed GN. Mixed media on paper 24 x 13 cm.
Private Collection, Denmark, purchased in Sweden.
Composer, musician and artist - like a Renaissance man, Gösta Nystroem moved between different fields. He grew up in an intellectual home and was educated as a child in visual arts and music by his father. After a couple of years at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1913-14, Nystroem devoted himself to both music and art studies and his own painting in Copenhagen in 1916-20 and then in Paris in 1920-1932. As a visual artist, he was self-taught, but was strongly influenced by contemporary artists and composers such as Matisse and Debussy. During his years in Paris, Nystroem socialised with and was influenced by GAN, Isaac Grünewald, Nils Dardel, Erik Grate and Sigrid Hjertén. After exhibitions in Copenhagen, Odense and Stockholm, Nystroem switched to creating primarily through music in the 1920s.
Both musically and artistically, Nystroem expressed himself through the two most groundbreaking trends of modernism: Cubism and Expressionism. Since Gösta Nystroem chose to devote himself primarily to music, it is in this field that he is best known. His artistic output is therefore limited, but it has always been highly valued and in great demand. It is extremely rare for works by Gösta Nystroem to come onto the market and there are many who wish to add a painting by this important artist to their collection.