Sailor and boat.
Signed G. A-N. Executed in January 1918. Oil on cardboard 35 x 28,5 cm.
Stockholms Auktionsverk, Moderna Kvalitén 15 May 2000, catalog no. 672.
The kaleidoscopic cubo-futurism of Gösta Adrian-Nilsson (GAN) reached its peak in 1918 with the legendary exhibition “Sailor Compositions” at Gummesson’s art gallery in Stockholm. The exhibition would become a milestone in Swedish modern art history. Lot 471 “Sailor and boat” is executed in this very important year. GAN writes in his diary:” I continue with the red and violets. I paint a little ship – a chrome-yellow hull, off-white sails – it is resting in the arms of a sailor”. (January 11, 1918).
We know from earlier entries in the diary that GAN had acquired a model of the sailing ship “Elin” that he kept in the studio at Kungsbroplan in Stockholm. “Elin” takes a prominent place in a number of GAN’s works from this period.