The auction painting ”Den elaka drottningen” is a central work from Lena Cronqvist’s production during the 1980s and part of the significant series ”Målaren och hennes modell” (1982–1986). The series comprises around twenty large-scale paintings in which Cronqvist consistently uses herself as a model, exploring identity, the gaze, and psychological complexity. This period is marked by a deeply personal mode of painting, where life experiences - childhood, motherhood, grief, vulnerability, and existential questions - are transformed into a universal visual language.

In ”Den elaka drottningen” we encounter a solitary female figure in a stripped-down room, seated on a simple chair with a hand mirror in her hand. The figure appears in a cold, milky white light that lends the body a sculptural weight, while bluish shadows create tension between physical presence and psychological charge. The mirror functions not merely as a reflective surface but as a symbolic device, where identity is tested and intensified. The title evokes a fairy-tale archetype, but in Cronqvist’s interpretation, the wicked female figure becomes an ambiguous character in which power, vulnerability, and self-awareness coexist.

The painting exemplifies Cronqvist’s combination of carefully observed realism with subtle symbolism and sensitive use of color. Her recurring motifs - hand mirrors, brushes, and bodily expression - heighten the inner drama and allow the viewer to encounter both the artist and themselves. Since her debut at Galerie Pierre in Stockholm in 1965, Cronqvist has consistently transformed personal experience into a visual language marked by immediacy and psychological acuity. During the 1980s, this expression deepened further, in dialogue with artists such as Francis Bacon and Edvard Munch. The painting in this auction is a clear example of the artist’s visual language and demonstrates why she holds a prominent place in Nordic art history.

For a long time, the painting was part of the collection of Maj-Brit Wadell. Wadell (1931–2025) became the first woman to hold a professorship in art history at the University of Gothenburg in 1979. Prior to that, she had already attracted attention as “Sweden’s most beautiful museum director” during her tenure as acting head of the County Museum of Gävleborg. Naturally, it was not primarily her appearance that made the museum flourish and visitor numbers soar, but rather her great expertise and drive. During the 1960s, she obtained a Licentiate degree in Philosophy followed by a doctoral degree in art history.

Maj-Brit Wadell is described as a strong personality with great character. She supervised students at her kitchen table, accompanied by her freely raised dogs. She primarily collected Scandinavian art, often favoring unconventional artists, and took a deep interest in individual artistic practices. She also actively participated in art education as a model at the School of Crafts and Valand Academy, maintaining that “a good art historian must understand how artists work and think.”

Lena Cronqvist was an early and close artist friend of hers, and Wadell wrote, among other things, about the motif “Modern.” Wadell would have liked to own a painting from the “Moder” series, but for various reasons this was not possible; instead, she acquired “Den elaka drottningen” from ”Målaren och hennes modell”. Their friendship, however, had its ups and downs, and on one occasion when Cronqvist wished to borrow the painting for an exhibition, Wadell declined.

Throughout her life, Maj-Brit Wadell had a complex relationship with the painting. Despite her great skill in writing about art, she never fully succeeded in describing or capturing the painting’s inherent enigmatic quality.