Important Winter Sale: Helene Schjerfbeck
Important Winter Sale presents
Helene Schjerfbeck White roses in a glass
The fishing village St. Ives in Cornwall on the Landsend peninsula was popular with artists, and attracted an international community of painters that worked and socialized in the small town. In July 1887, Helene Schjerfbeck traveled for the first time to St. Ives. She was invited by her friend Marianne Preindlsberger, married to the English artist Adrian Stokes. Einar Reuter, writing under the pseudonym H. Ahtela, describes the time in St. Ives as a happy time for Schjerfbeck. The small group of artists, to which Schjerfbeck belonged, hung out in Stoke's studio and met several times a week. The special light and mild climate allowed painting en plein-air even in winter. The surroundings were beautiful, the joy of work burned in Schjerfbeck. The financial situation for the near future was secured.
Schjerfbeck found a studio in a tower overlooking the harbor and the sea. In one of many surviving letters to fellow painter and friend from her Paris days, Maria Wiik, she describes the view from her window - she would watch the fishing boats returning into the harbor in the evenings, lantern by lantern - the sea looked like the Champs-Elysées. It was difficult, however, to use the fishermen as models as most of the men spent their days at sea. Instead, the choice of motif fell on children, landscapes and interiors. In 1888 she completed the painting The Convalescent which probably draws on her childhood experience. This work is an unsentimental depiction of a sickly young girl in a wicker chair, contemplating a budding twig in a vase on a table before her. The buds seem to hold out the hope of recovery. The painting was awarded a bronze medal when it was exhibited at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris.
The painting "White Roses in Glass", a previously unknown oil on panel, has great similarities to the canvas "Yellow Roses in Glass" executed in St. Ives 1888. In the painting in this auction, Schjerfbeck lets the interplay between light and color have free play. The heavy roses shine white against the somber moss-green leaves. The surface of the table dissolves into the ash-gray background, enhancing the sense of gravity that pulls the rosebuds down over the edge of the glass.
Schjerfbeck would return to still lives of fruit and flowers throughout her career. The realistically executed natures mortes, such as this newly discovered work from the 1880s, gave way to the characteristic and experimental fruit paintings she created towards the end of her life. They play a significant role in her ouevre and among them you find many of her most daring and vital works.
The work is sold at the Important Winter Sale.
Estimate 1 000 000 - 1 500 000 SEK.
Viewing: December 1 – 6th, Berzelii Park, Stockholm.
Open: Mon–Fri 11 AM – 18 PM, Sat – Sun 11 AM – 16 PM.
Auction: December 7 – 9th, Arsenalsgatan 2, Stockholm.
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Explore the cataloge
Helene Schjerbeck "Flicka med fladdrande hår"
Study for the tapestry "Tree of Life"
In 1902, Helene Schjerfbeck moved, partly for health reasons, to the small town of Hyvinge, five miles north of Helsinki. Here she came to live with her mother in a small apartment with one room and a kitchen. The arrangement lasted until the mother's death in 1923. During the first fifteen years in Hyvininga, Schjerfbeck refrained from traveling to Helsinki. However, she continued to paint and regularly submitted works to exhibitions and raffles in both Helsinki and Turku. Some contact with the outside world also existed during these years, mainly via correspondence with friends and through subscriptions to international art magazines.
IDuring these years, knotted piles (rya) became popular in Finnish art life. Schjerfbeck also wanted to try her hand at the craft and composed patterns and scenes for wall hangings, tablecloths and cushions for Finska Handarbetets Vänner. The watercolour in this auction is a study for the tapestry "The Tree of Life" which depicts a courting couple in front of a tree. The woman is portrayed with her eyes closed and red hair flying loose. Schjerfbeck made another version of the study of the woman, compare the drawing mentioned in Ahtela's catalog from 1953, cat. no 333.
The work will be sold during Important Winter Sale.
Estimate 600 000 - 800 000 SEK
To the work
Helene Schjerbeck "Konvalecenten"
Hand coloured lithograph with pastel and water colour. According to Ahtela one of 8 known hand coloured prints.
The work will be sold during Important Winter Sale.
Estimate 75 000 - 100 000 SEK
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Requests & condition reports Contact specialist
Stockholm
Lena Rydén
Head of Art, Specialist Modern and 19th century Art
+46 (0)707 78 35 71
Stockholm
Andreas Rydén
Head Specialist, Art, Deputy Managing Director
+46 (0)728 58 71 39