Lena Cronqvist
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"Flicka på sten"
Signed Lena Cronqvist and dated 2004. Painted terracotta and stone. Height 24 cm, length 12 cm, depth 13 cm.
Provenance
Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm. Private collection, Sweden.
Exhibitions
Liljevalchs, Stockholm, Sweden, "Lena Cronqvist - måleri, skulptur", October 12, 2013 - January 6, 2014.
Literature
Mårten Castenfors and Louise Fogelström, "Lena Cronqvist", 2014, exhibition catalogue, illustrated p. 20 and p. 84.
More information
Mårten Castenfors beskriver i sin essä ”Lena Cronqvist och det absolut nödvändiga”, SAK 2003, konstnärens måleri på 1990-talet som måleriska framställningar av små figuranter. Det är unga flickor som grimaserar i en värld av växtvärk, spelad oskyldighet och barnslig grymhet. ”1990-talets flickor vänder och vrider envetet på dockor och katter: de badar, dränker, stryper och bäddar med samma sorgmodiga välbehag.”
Flickorna, med sin trotsiga och allvarliga uppsyn, tycks placerade i en vuxenlös miljö där deras till synes oskyldiga lek är laddad med dunkla undertoner. Parallellt med att flickorna blir mer och mer vanartiga i måleriet finner motiven även sin tredimensionella form i Cronqvists skulpturer av terrakotta och brons. I såväl stor som liten skala utstrålar de små gestalterna psykologisk trovärdighet, självständighet och styrka. De styr och ställer och härskar över sin egen värld må det vara en sten, en balja eller ett vatten.
Artist
Lena Cronqvist was one of Sweden’s most significant and influential artists, with a career spanning more than five decades. Born in Karlstad and educated at the Bristol School of Art in England as well as the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, she developed a style of painting where technical precision met intense emotional depth. Through her raw and emotionally charged imagery, she explored the paradoxes of motherhood, the shadows of childhood, and the relentless flow of time. Inspired by modernism and Edvard Munch, she transformed the personal into universal stories filled with deep psychological presence and power. As a painter, printmaker, and sculptor, she moved effortlessly between artistic forms, with each work marked by strong emotion and meticulous craftsmanship. Her interpretation of Jan van Eyck’s "The Arnolfini Portrait" in "Trolovningen"(1974/75) became a milestone when it sold at Bukowski's auction Vår Contemporary 2016 for over 11 million SEK - the highest amount ever paid for a work by a living Swedish artist at the time. Lena Cronqvist’s art is a bold and powerful voice that continues to move, challenge, and inspire. Her legacy lives on - boundless and timeless - reminding us of art’s ability to reach into the depths of the human experience.
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