Stefan Johansson

The auction's exquisite painting "Sommarnattskyn" has been in the same family's possession since 1943. Bukowskis is proud to present this icon in Stefan Johansson's oeuvre.

Stefan Johansson's upbringing in Värmland meant a great deal for his orientation in life. Nature had a strong hold on his soul, which manifested itself in his landscape paintings as well as in the national romantic poems he wrote throughout his life. The painting "Sommarnattssky" was created during the artist's later years when studies of landscapes and clouds became increasingly captivating for him.

Celestial phenomena fascinated him, and their mystique permeates even Johansson's most realistic works. The interplay between light and dark serves as a metaphor for the artist's sometimes turbulent inner landscape. Johansson's works transcend the purely visual and reaches the emotional core of the viewer.

Although Stefan Johansson received training at the Royal Institute of Art in his early years, he considered himself a self-taught artist, something that can be linked to the technique he developed early on. He painted watercolour on canvas and experimented with diluting the paint with various types of solvents, which contributed to the characteristic "Johanssonian" expression. In "Sommarnattskyn," the artist employs the watercolour technique to achieve his goal. The thin paint seems to flow in a movement that follows the clouds across the texture of the canvas. The twilight is reflected in the light clouds that move upwards and expand over the blue-toned landscape. To immerse oneself as a viewer in "Sommarnattskyn" is a contemplative and almost poetic experience.

Stefan Hammenbeck writes in "Bara tiden och livet förslog", Värmlands Museum, 2007: "The care the artist showed in every aspect from the creation of the painting to its framing makes one naturally think of the finished work as a kind of icon. The image was completed by the artist right down to the framing."

Even in the auction's work, the artist has meticulously worked on the frame and carefully selected the profile and type of wood. Johansson designed his own frame profiles, and his drawings and instructions are preserved in the archives at Värmland Museum and the Nationalmuseum. He also mentions the frame in the correspondence that has been preserved between him and the buyer Gunborg Celander.

Gunborg Celander got to know Stefan Johansson and his brother Axel Hilding in the late 1920s in Ekshärad/Älvdalen in Värmland. Gunborg and Stefan kept in touch through letters, and a couple of letters from 1943 are preserved with the painting's current owner. Gunborg had attended a vernissage at the Artists' House in Stockholm and was captivated by one of her friend Stefan Johansson's paintings at the exhibition:

From a letter dated 8 February 1943:

"[...]

And then the painting. There is a bit to arrange after the exhibition, so I must ask for a little time to send it. The frame needs to be looked at, and the painting will be relined when I can attend to it, whatever is needed. I hope to be able to send it within a couple of weeks. "Sommarnattsskyn" is what I call it, and the sky stood over the forest, which in the east separated the western hills from the valley. It was light enough to read. I have worked a lot with this piece, changed and sought. The price - the sad price - is 400. My immediate interest is whether Gunborg really likes the painting*, and I may hear that after some time of impressions of it. Thank you for your interest in the exhibition, and may all go as well as possible wishes

Gunborg's friend

Stefan

*Make it clear to yourself before Gunborg thinks of any payment."