Ragnar Sandberg, Strollers in an Urban Environment.
Monogram signed and dated R.S. -48. Oil on panel, 20 x 12 cm.
In the auction painting Ragnar Sandberg has depicted a couple strolling along a sunny street in Gothenburg. A light blue sky is lit up, with a few sweet cloud puffs. The couple is moving along a street lined with red striped awnings.
Ragnar Sandberg was a master at depicting the movement and atmosphere of a city, and he became Gothenburg's foremost painter. The city centre became one of Ragnar Sandberg's most popular subjects. Public life with strolling couples, playing children and cheerful sailors inspired Sandberg to paint colourfully every day of the year, both morning and evening.
Perhaps it is the colouring in this lovely painting that stands out the most - Ragnar Sandberg succeeds, like few other artists, in combining the nuances of simple cityscapes into refined and irresistible creations.
It was during his student years and his time in France that Ragnar Sandberg laid the foundations for his flourishing period as a painter in the 1930s and 1940s, but he found his true inspiration in his beloved hometown. In Gothenburg, Ragnar Sandberg explored all the city's neighbourhoods, through constant excursions to different districts.
Ragnar Sandberg dared to use colour and light in his depictions of Gothenburg in the 1940s, despite the fact that several descriptions suggest that the city could be perceived as dark and gloomy during this troubled period. Instead, the city's facades, strollers and light became his main sources of inspiration.