Gerd Nordenskjöld – Concrete Works F566

‘Within me lives the image of a landscape with gentle tones and always in the vicinity of the living sea. Not intrusive or aggressive. Wide open, open to the winds. Clarity and purity.’ - Gerd Nordenskjöld, 1966

Gerd Nordenskjöld's work is characterised by a concrete approach. There is an element of mysticism in her non-figurative paintings and an endeavour to allow the movement and transformation of colours and shapes to suggest spiritual experiences. Nordenskjöld worked with abstract and nature-related painting in a colourful palette. The current theme auction includes 15 works from the mid to late 1950s purchased directly from the artist. During this period, Nordenskjöld increasingly de-emphasised linearity and concentrated on surface structure.

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‘Within me lives the image of a landscape with gentle tones and always in the vicinity of the living sea. Not intrusive or aggressive. Wide open, open to the winds. Clarity and purity.’ - Gerd Nordenskjöld, 1966

Gerd Nordenskjöld's work is characterised by a concrete approach. There is an element of mysticism in her non-figurative paintings and an endeavour to allow the movement and transformation of colours and shapes to suggest spiritual experiences. Nordenskjöld worked with abstract and nature-related painting in a colourful palette. The current theme auction includes 15 works from the mid to late 1950s purchased directly from the artist. During this period, Nordenskjöld increasingly de-emphasised linearity and concentrated on surface structure.

Gerd Nordenskjöld was born in 1913 in Vänersborg. She began her art studies with Saga Walli in Gothenburg and continued her studies with Börge Hovedskou in 1946. In 1948 she travelled to Stockholm, where she met Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, who had started a school for non-figurative art. Nordenskjöld stayed at the school for five years before travelling to the art metropolis of Paris. Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen introduced her to some of the most important concrete artists such as Maurice Estéve, Jean Dewasne, Jean Deyrolle and Henri Goetz, who also taught her. They had a strong influence on Nordenskjöld's painting at first, but only after a few years did she find her style.

Nordenskjöld's first solo exhibition was at Galerie Arnaud in 1955; the exhibition was a success, and she sold almost everything. The review in Le Monde was favourable and, according to the gallery owner Nordenskjöld was one of the foremost non-French artists to have shown her work at Galerie Arnaud. Nordenskjöld also corresponded with the famous Parisian gallerist Denise René during this period.

In 1957 Nordenskjöld returned to Sweden, where she had her first solo exhibition at the Sture Gallery in Stockholm. Pontus Hultén, Oscar Reuterswärd, and Olle Baertling helped hang the exhibition. The criticism she received after the opening was overwhelmingly positive. The exhibition featured both oils and gouaches. The gouaches were done in an austere style in sober colours: black, white, grey, and blue.