Street view at night
Signed GAN. Watercolour drawing 28.5 x 24.5 cm.
The overall impression is good. Mounted with paper tape on the mat.
Purchased directly from the artist in the year 1945.
Thence by descent.
Transcription: Letter from the artist dated October 18, 1946.
Stockholm 18.10 1946
Mrs. Doctor Svea Hulth
In response to your card, I am sending, as you can see, a watercolour drawing, which is probably within a suitable price range for you, and I can sell it in this case for 125 kronor.
It will be your task to figure out what the melancholic street ... the task is not ...
I still believe they were ... from ... into the deepest corner, but I miss the free outlook horizon, even though I now see the sun shining in through the southern window and gilding life indoors.
In the event that the small painting does not meet your expectations, you may return it; however, in that case, I cannot offer you anything else at that price.
Best regards,
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.
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