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657(1508476)
Gösta Adrian-Nilsson(Sweden, 1884-1965)
"Lunds Domkyrka"
Hammer price
420 000SEK
Estimate
500 000 - 600 000 SEK

"Lunds Domkyrka"

Signed GAN and dated -23. Canvas 51 x 63 cm.

Provenance

Mrs. Brita Graflund, Eskilstuna.
Lena och Nils-Gösta Wallengren, Viken.
Birgit Borelius, Viken.
Private collection.

Exhibitions

Riksförbundet för bildande konst, exhibition no. 14.
Prins Eugen's Waldemarsudde, Stockholm, possibly not in the catalog.
Lunds Konsthall, "GAN and Wiwen Nilsson", July 3 - August 28, 1977, cat. no. 105, depicted in the exhibition catalog in black and white.

More information

In a radio interview from 1959, GAN himself tells the story of how, during an evening walk in 1918, he stopped in front of Lund Cathedral and was completely captivated by its appearance. The structure seemed isolated and self-illuminating, almost phosphorescent. Above all, it was the two towers that stood out and reached towards the sky that caught his eye. This revelation stayed with GAN, and he knew he had to paint this motif. He never made any sketches before his paintings. Instead, he worked on the motif within himself and then, sometimes much later, transferred the vision onto the canvas. In May of the following year, 1919, GAN painted "Lund Cathedral," which is now part of the Norrköping Museum's collection. Many have interpreted the two towers as a twin rocket, and GAN himself could understand this. However, he meant that it was not his intention; what he was after was the movement, how the two towers draw the gaze upwards, and how the diagonals in the painting suggest that the frame can be broken and boundaries can be crossed.

In the early 1920s, GAN lived in Paris for five years, with interruptions for two longer stays in Lund and Halmstad during the summers of 1922 and 1923. During one of these stays in Lund, GAN returned to the motif of Lund Cathedral. The painting in the auction is executed in the strict synthetic cubist style that GAN transitioned to in Paris after his fragmented kaleidoscopic style of the 1910s. Once again, it is a nocturnal motif where the church almost self-illuminates in the foreground. The perspectives are shifted with planar geometric fields, and outside becomes inside, and in front becomes behind.

Lund held a special place in GAN's heart, and it is clear that this place and building had great significance and impact on him personally.

More about Gösta Adrian-Nilsson

Gösta Adrian-Nilsson is most notable as a visual artist, and he is a pioneer of Swedish modernism. He studied at the Tekniske Selskabs Skole in Copenhagen and later for Johan Rohde at Zahrtmann’s school in Copenhagen. As an avant-gardist, Nilsson was constantly searching for new influences. In Berlin, he was influenced by the circle around the radical magazine Der Sturm, through Kandinsky and och Franz Marc. In Paris through Fernand Legér and the artists in his circle. GAN was an eclectic in the positive sense of the word. He took the the artist styles of the 1900s and created new impressions. Symbolism, cubism, futurism, expressionism, constructivim and Theosophy were the colours occupying his internal pallet. He had a sharp eye for the masculine and his painting was often energized by the vitality of modern technology, vibrant eroticism, and echoes of tyrants. No other Swedish modern artist exhibits such a unique style.

Read more
For condition report contact specialist
Lena Rydén
Stockholm
Lena Rydén
Senior specialist Art
+46 (0)707 78 35 71
Covered by droit de suite

By law, the buyer will pay an artist fee for this work of art. This fee is 5% of the hammer price, or less. For more information about this law:

Sweden: BUS
Finland: Kuvasto

Purchasing info
Image rights

The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.

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