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Axel Petersson Döderhultarn

(Sweden, 1868-1925)
Estimate
10 000 - 12 000 SEK
900 - 1 080 EUR
962 - 1 150 USD
Hammer price
8 000 SEK
Purchasing info
For condition report contact specialist
Lisa Gartz
Stockholm
Lisa Gartz
Head Specialist Silver
+46 (0)709 17 99 93
Axel Petersson Döderhultarn
(Sweden, 1868-1925)

Man in shackles

Carved wood. Length 6, height 11.5 cm.

Exhibitions

Nationalmuseum, "Döderhultarn, Axel Petersson 1868-1925, catalogue no 181, 1951, probably cat no 11 here called "Man med hank on halsen" (Man with shackles around his neck).

More information

Axel Petersson Döderhultarn is one of this countrys best wooden sculptures artists, famous far beyond the borders of Sweden. In a masterly and humorous way he portrayed life in a small town in Småland around the turn of the century. Döderhultarn was a self-taught carver and is today one of Sweden's most famous sculptors. He was born in 1868 in Döderhult parish and it was after the parish, he was named Döderhultarn. All his adult life he was living and working in Oskarshamn. Döderhultarn had his big breakthrough at the age of 40 years old in 1909 and orders began to flow in. His sculptures were bought by private individuals, art collectors and museums, and he participated in many exhibitions, both in Sweden and abroad, including Paris, Copenhagen, Brighton, Rome and New York.
His figures are genuine characters and recognizable from photographs of people Döderhultarn had around him. Besides the more well-known human figures he also carved cows and horses, but even small portrait busts in more conventional style with sandpaper polished surfaces. He is usually described as a caricaturist but he was more than that which is seen in famous figures like the dead emaciated horse "ottenbyare". There are some subjects that Döderhultarn returned to often like the figure groups called Baptism, Wedding, Funeral, Auction, the District Court and a number of other typical situations from the life around him. He sculpted these subjects repeatedly but often with variations in the individual figures. The priest, the auctioneer and so on are specific individuals from the artist's home parish.
There is something very genuine with Döderhultarns art and his sculptures are still highly beloved long after his own time.