Ola Billgren

Billgren created almost monochromatic paintings in the 1990s, where the motif was obscured by thin layers of paint swept across the surface of the canvas. The photographic image remained important as a model and inspiration, but the painterly effects of colour on the canvas gained increasing weight and thus propelled Billgren's painting forward. The work "Café Window, Venice," executed in 1999, is an excellent example of this period in Billgren's artistic career.

• "We took a longer trip to Italy in 1995. We travelled to Pompeii, visited Tivoli and Villa d’Este, among other places. Ola photographed a lot throughout the trip. Once home, he developed the images and let them inspire him in his work with the painting," recounts Anita Nilsson Billgren.

The journey resulted, among other things, in a series of paintings with antiquarian motifs. They testified to the importance of the trip and the significance of the impressions Ola Billgren had brought back to Sweden. Behind the artist's abstract surfaces, classical forms, architectural details, and sculptures emerged.

The painting at auction also connects back to the visit to Italy, a few years earlier. A painting that was initially distinct and realistic has, through the artist's gentle hand, been given a dreamlike and suggestive tone, and the grey hues of paint has been carefully applied to the surface in an unmistakably Billgren manner.