Pine Marten and Black Grouse

Pine Marten and Black Grouse

1888

Oil on canvas

Mått 90,00 x 119,80 cm Ram 124,00 x 154,00 x 13,00 cm

GKM 2013-75

Bequest of Gustaf Werner (1859–1948) to the City of Gothenburg. Transferred to the Gothenburg Museum of Art in 2013.

In the painting Pine Marten and Black Grouse, Bruno Liljefors explores an unsentimental Darwinian theme involving the struggle for survival, which featured frequently in his work. The dramatic image demonstrates this with grim realism. In one bold leap, a pine marten catches a black grouse, which desperately tries to escape. The picture shows the moment of the fatal blow. The dramatic event stands out in razor-sharp focus while the rest of the painting becomes blurry further out to the edges. In the painting Liljefors has worked with contrasts on multiple levels; between the pine marten’s smooth fur and sharp claws, between the chasing pine marten and the captured black grouse, and between the razor-sharp focus on the animals and the blurry woods in the periphery.

Göteborg, Göteborgs konstmuseum, 07/09/2013 - 17/11/2013

Smuk og farlig. Naturen set af Liljefors, red., Nivaagaards Malerisamling, Nivaagaard, 2023., ill. p. 44 Annick Lemoine et al., Bruno Liljefors. La suède suvage, red. Sandra Buratti-Hasan och Carl-Johan Olsson, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville Paris, Paris, 2024., ill. p. 21