Rolf Hanson
Bold and Individualistic
Rolf Hanson belongs to the generation of Swedish artists born in the early 1950s, who began their studies at art schools during the most aesthetically hostile period of the 1970s.
Together with Max Book, Johan Scott, Jarl Ingvarsson, and others, they debuted as a counter-movement to a wave of political messages and anti-commercialism in art. Their bold and individualistic painting permeated the 1980s, which also became the decade of art collectors.
Throughout his artistic career, Rolf Hanson has tackled various series of motifs, but the one considered his foremost and most acclaimed is "Runtom trappa" (Around the Stairs), which also became his major breakthrough. In 1999, he was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Art Awards first prize for Runtom trappa IV, V, and VI, and he described the origin of the stairs: - "During a stay in Grez-sur-Loing, France, I decided to walk to Montigny-sur-Loing to see a famous staircase that is there. I found the motif in reality so interesting that I wanted to take on the task of trying to make a painting of it to bring back home to Sweden as a memory of my stay in France." The staircase that Hanson used in his study was the stone staircase depicted in one of the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Hill's most famous paintings from 1876.
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"A staircase is such a common feature in the private and public architecture we move through daily that we hardly notice it – provided, of course, that we move without difficulty and the staircase does not pose an obstacle.[...]"
In the important work presented in this auction, "Runtom trappa" from 2008, the artist returns to his series of paintings from 1997 to 2002, specifically "Runtom trappa VIII". It is a strikingly beautiful painting where the steps of the staircase occupy almost the entire canvas. At the top of the rise, the image opens up to a distant landscape with trees silhouetted against a glowing evening sky. In the middle of the staircase, there is a spill of paint that seems to flow down in a tranquil stream of violet. The walls surrounding the staircase form a kaleidoscope of colour spots and light reflections.
The auction's painting "Runtom trappa" is an impressive example of Rolf Hanson's ability to allow the picture surface to remain both open and closed at the same time. The staircase rises upward and invites the viewer's gaze to wander into the image, resulting in an almost dizzying experience. The colour seems to flow down the steps while balance is maintained by the interplay of light and shadow.
Hanson himself has described the stairs with the following words: "A staircase is such a common feature in the private and public architecture we move through daily that we hardly notice it – provided, of course, that we move without difficulty and the staircase does not pose an obstacle. Seen with a painter's eye, as the expression went once upon a time, the staircase becomes a challenge of another kind: its even alternation between vertical and horizontal planes and its perspectival properties make the staircase as interesting as it is difficult to depict, both in terms of light and line."
Rolf Hanson at Contemporary Art & Design
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