Gustaf Fjaestad

Few artists have managed to depict the beauty of the Swedish nature in winter garb quite like Gustaf Fjaestad. In his paintings, the artist expressed an almost transcendental interpretation of the untouched Swedish nature's aesthetic qualities and values of beauty. One of Fjaestad's biographers, Agneta Fjaestad Nordmark, speaks of "a sense of intimacy", "as if this very place were 'one's own' private spot". It is easy to agree with the statement when viewing the current painting at the auction. Somewhere at the intersection of nature lyricism and symbolism, the motifs of the forests of Värmland are depicted with artistic precision and richness of detail. After Fjaestad's death in 1948, the signature "Felix" in Arvika Nyheter wrote: "With his exquisite masterpieces, he had brought joy throughout his long life. He discovered the beauty of winter and his art, filled with genuine atmosphere, has enchanted us...". This quote aptly summarizes the inherent qualities in Fjaestad's artistry. Gustav Fjaestad painted his and his compatriots' love for the cold for the rest of the world, and he did it like no other. In a letter to his wife Maja, he describes his deep inspiration on a winter day: "the snow lies so beautifully on the ground and Lord God how beautiful the forest is". In L'Art Decoratif, a critic described Fjaestad's winter motifs as follows: "Here we have the recurring Swedish winter in a very limited area, the winter that one endures daily and not just seen from a sleigh. The winter that is as passionately liked as the sun is liked by the southerner and which hardens body and soul as Fjaestad himself was hardened. Is this not the essence of Sweden?"