Important Spring Sale presents John Bauer | June 10–12
"Madonnan ger spelmannen sin ena sko" (ur sagan "Spelmannen som fick madonnans guldsko")
“‘He saw the Holy Virgin bend down and remove one of her shoes, which with a gentle smile she held out to him.’ Thus reads the line from Emil Linder’s fairy tale The Fiddler Who Received the Madonna’s Golden Shoe from the story collection Among Gnomes and Trolls, published in 1915, which the auction’s beautiful watercolour illustrates.
The tale was accompanied by two watercolours, of which the present catalogue number is the first. John Bauer had successfully illustrated the fairy-tale collection that Åhlén & Åkerlund had published since 1907. Thanks to this fruitful collaboration, in which Bauer’s imaginative illustrations accompanied stories by the leading fairy-tale writers of the time gathered in Among Gnomes and Trolls, the tales were brought to life and have been cherished for generations. With the deepest respect for nature, storytelling, and the innermost emotions of human beings, Bauer succeeded in enchanting us through his images into a unique journey through time and space, into the distant realms of fantasy. No other artist is so closely associated with gnomes, trolls, and other mythical beings as John Bauer.
The Fiddler Who Received the Madonna’s Golden Shoe, written by Emil Linder, tells the story of a poor fiddler named Friedel. The tale takes place in a small town in Tyrol. One day, as Friedel passes a small church containing a beautiful sculpture of the Virgin Mary, he becomes so captivated by her that he decides to play a beautiful melody in her honour. The Madonna is brought to life by his music and, in gratitude, gives one of her golden shoes to Friedel. When he later explains how he came by the shoe, no one believes him. Instead, he is regarded as a criminal and sentenced to death. When he is once again allowed to play for the Virgin Mary, this time performing a melody more beautiful than ever before, she gives him her shoe once again, whereupon everyone believes him and he is able to live on happily, continuing to play his music.
Estimate: 1 800 000 - 2 000 000 SEK
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After studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, John Bauer travelled to Italy with his wife Esther. The journey would prove deeply significant for the artist’s development and an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The masters of the Renaissance, in particular, made a profound impression on him. After a day spent visiting museums in Florence, John exclaimed: “My head is full of angels, Madonnas and halos.” In a letter home to his family dated 10 June 1908, John Bauer wrote of his impressions of Florence and Siena: “And then the old fourteenth-century painting! Quite simply, I have never before seen anything so beautiful. There I truly have much to learn. Despite their primitive, stylised simplicity, it is astonishing what characterisation they are able to infuse into their figures. Their paintings seem like jewels. It was never their intention to paint reality realistically. They have delved into an entirely different world of beauty. It is also chiefly saints and Madonnas they depicted, and one understands perfectly what a wealth of religion and beauty these paintings must have bestowed upon the people for whom they were created. I notice ever more clearly that it is from the oldest and most primitive artists that one has most to learn as an artist.”
In the auction’s painting, the inspiration Bauer drew from the old masters he encountered in Italy is clearly evident. From the Madonna’s profile depiction, her Renaissance attire and ethereal delicacy, to the simplicity and restrained elegance of the church interior, John Bauer demonstrates his mastery of a visual language inherited from earlier times. Bauer developed an original and deeply personal expression filled with warmth which, at this period when he stood at the height of his career, is fully apparent in this almost enchanting composition.
John Bauer at Important Spring Sale
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