Karl Nordström

”En Stuggavel” was painted during a critical turning point in Swedish art history. The year is 1916; Karl Nordström and his generational colleagues are all standing face to face with the end of their artistic careers. It was only merely 30 years prior, in August 1886, when they – alongside Carl Larsson and Bruno Liljefors – came together to establish the Artist’s Association. The group met in Anders Zorn’s hotel room at Hotel Kristiania in Gothenburg, whereby one of the statutes read that they aimed to "oppose all anachronisms that may be harmful and promote all reforms that can be considered beneficial to our native art and art industry." All of the artists had previously lived in France and had first-hand witnessed the new emerging art movements of Impressionism and Realism, and thus the group were driven by a passion and ambition to drive the Swedish art scene in a similar direction.

The ideas of the Artists' Association came to strongly influence Swedish art at the turn of the 20th century, crowning the period as the Golden Age of Swedish art history. During the 1910s, new art movements began to emerge as a new generation of artists entered the scene. Among these were Isaac Grünewald and Einar Jolin. Just as the members of the Artists' Association had previously done in the 1880s, they settled in France, inspired by the new and revolutionary artistic practices, one which rejected plein air painting in favour for expressionism and cubism.

In early 1916, Karl Nordström painted several snow-covered Djurgården motifs. In the auction’s collection, ”En Stuggavel” Nordström, while evoking modernist elements in his palette, retains a form which is reminiscent of 19th-century Realism. Later that same year, Liljevalchs Art Gallery was inaugurated on Djurgården, and thus the Artists' Association achieved its goal of creating an independent gallery for permanent exhibitions of contemporary art. At the gallery's second exhibition, "Artists' Association," Karl Nordström exhibited several of his Djurgården motifs, including "Djurgårdsstuga i snö" (sold at Important Winter Sale 621, December 11, 2019, final price 61,000 SEK). Younger artists such as Grünewald, Jolin, and Leander Engström were also invited to exhibit.

Karl Nordström ”En Stuggavel” functions as a clear turning point for Swedish art, providing an artistic setting where two of greatest generations of Swedish artists can intersect.