Agda Holst

Agda Holst (1886-1976) lived and worked in Kristianstad all her life. Exceptions were when she studied painting in Paris, Germany or Copenhagen. During the 1920s and 1930s, Agda Holst produced her best still lifes, including the delicate and elegant painting in the auction. Her paintings from this period also attracted an international audience.

In 1933, Agda Holst received her international recognition. Agda Holst exhibited still life paintings at the Salon des indépendents in Bordeaux, following an initiative by an influential French art collector. Agda Holst received acclaim from both critics and the public.

At an early age, Agda Holst wanted to see the world. As early as 1907, aged 21, she travelled to Paris. She studied at the Académie Colarossi with Christian Krohg and Kees van Dongen in 1911-12. Holst also studied in Munich with Julius Exter in 1910-1911.

After a period in her home town of Kristianstad, she returned to Paris in the early 1920s for new studies. This time she studied with the famous André Lhote from 1920-21, and it was during this period that she really found her style: the new objectivity, mixed with a wayward cubism. Her subject matter consisted of portraits, still lifes and Scanian landscapes.

After a period in her home town of Kristianstad, she returned to Paris in the early 1920s for new studies. This time she studied with the famous André Lhote from 1920-21, and it was during this period that she really found her style: the new objectivity, mixed with a wayward cubism. Her subject matter consisted of portraits, still lifes and Scanian landscapes.

Agda Holst's solo debut in Lund in 1927 was a great success. Sydsvenska Dagbladet's Hakon Hedemann-Gade, who was considered the leading critic of the time, wrote ‘The artist's skill in holding together even fairly large canvases into a decorative whole is impressive - moreover, one must admire her ability to incorporate so much portrait character in a form of stylised simplification’.

Agda Holst was now receiving portrait commissions and realised that she could make a living as an artist. There was great interest, the press was overwhelming and the artist was satisfied.

Agda Holst had her first solo exhibition outside Skåne at Värmlands Museum in Karlstad, and together with male colleagues she showed works in Copenhagen and Malmö. She now felt confident in her artistic endeavours and had a major solo exhibition at Malmö Town Hall in 1931.
The journalist Hakon Hedemann-Gade praised her in Sydsvenska Dagbladet.For a number of years, Agda Holst exhibited together with the artist group Aura, and in 1932 it was time for the Konsthallen in Gothenburg.There the criticism was also positive and Agda Holst's self-portrait ‘Vid staffliet" ("At the easel") was praised. Agda Holst's paintings were also praised at the Salon des Indépendants in Bordeaux in 1933.

As the only woman in the artist group Aura, Agda Holst attracted attention at exhibitions in Copenhagen, Norrköping and Liljevalchs.She also continued to exhibit with the Skånes konstförening and, in view of the economy, took every opportunity to show her art.
In 1994, Prince Eugen's Waldemarsudde organised the exhibition ‘Den otroliga verkligheten - 13 kvinnliga pionjärer’ ('The incredible reality - 13 female pioneers").The pioneers included Siri Derkert, Vera Nilsson, Tora Vega Holmström and Agda Holst.

What they all have in common is that they were educated in Paris at a young age.Radical in relation to the prevailing view of art, they made pioneering contributions to the breakthrough of modernism after returning to Sweden.
Agda Holst's main subject matter was portrait and still life painting.

On the initiative of a French art collector, her portraits and still lifes were exhibited at the Salon des indépendents in Bordeaux in 1933. The still lifes in this auction bear unmistakable witness to the artist's signature - a cultivated, refined colour language with a perfect sense of compositional proportion and balance.
In recent years, efforts have been made to highlight significant female artists from the first half of the 20th century.
This work has resulted in Tora Vega Holmström, Agda Holst, Vera Nilsson, Siri Derkert and others now being ranked and equated with contemporary male colleagues.

One important project was Moderna Museet's initiative Det Andra Önskemuseet (The Second Wish Museum) 2006-2009, which aimed to supplement the collection with works by women artists, mainly from the first half of the 20th century.

In 2022, the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm showed paintings by Agda Holst, in the exhibition "Swedish grace. Konst och design i 1920-talets Sverige" ("Swedish grace. Art and design in 1920s Sweden").