John Bauer at Important Spring Sale

John Bauer, "Han vilade icke ett ögonblick förrän han i skymningen nådde fram"

"I stood on a height. The ground lay dark around me and above me the sky arched with its stars. I felt clearly how small I was and how I stood firmly on the earth's shadow side, affected by gravity. I had the whole world above me."

John Bauer wrote these words in a letter to his colleague Axel Kleimer in 1901 after returning from a skiing trip. The quote could also describe the watercolour "Han vilade icke ett ögonblick förrän han i skymningen nådde fram" ( in English "He did not rest for a moment until he reached his destination at dusk"), which Bauer completed in 1912. It was published in the sixth edition of “Bland Tomtar och Troll” for the tale "Vingas krans" by Ellen Lundberg-Nyblom and depicts a remorseful Prince Mino riding under the starry night sky. He is on his way to his elder brother, whom he had previously imprisoned by deceiving the people into thinking his brother was insane, all with the aim of proclaiming himself king of the country. In Bauer's depiction, Prince Mino has come to terms with his sins and is on his way to the prison to hold himself accountable before his elder brother.

The quote from Bauer's 1901 letter also expresses a broader intellectual movement among European artists at the turn of the century, often referred to as symbolism. The years around 1900 were marked by industrialization, modernity, and science, and during this transformative time, many artists turned their attention to the darker sides of existence and the mysteries of humanity. Nordic artists began to explore nature mysticism, often with the help of ancient myths and old tales.