Björn Ahlgrensson, Artist

Björn Ahlgrensson, Artist

1901

Oil on canvas

Mått 110,50 x 93,00 cm Ram 121,50 x 104,00 x 6,00 cm

GKM 0376

Gift of friends to the artist, 1904

A thin man with thick hair, he gazes out to the left through thin spectacles. He holds a violin in his hands. Dressed in black, he is silhouetted against the bright golden gleam of the wooden panelling. Ahlgrensson looks determined. This is a portrait of a friend, one that highlights the artist’s calling as a serious one and art as a spiritual dimension of existence. This seems to be how the Rackstad artists viewed their profession: by revealing Nature’s beauty and spiritual dimension, art offers comfort in a harsh existence. Kristoffer Arvidsson from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014

Göteborg, Göteborgs konstmuseum, 19/09/2015 - 24/01/2016 Stockholm, Liljevalchs konsthall, 14/06/1990 - 26/08/1990, no. 64

Sixten Strömbom, Konstnärsförbundets historia 2. Nationalromantik och radikalism: 1891–1920, Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm 1965., ill. p. bild 109 Birgit Rausing, "Måleriet", Signums svenska konsthistoria. Konsten 1890–1915, Bokförlaget Signum, Lund 2001, ill. p. 317 Georg Nordensvan, "I Göteborgs Museum. Några intryck af Georg Nordensvan", Ord & Bild, red. Karl Whålin, Ord & Bild/Wahlström & Widstrand, 1906, p. 30-31 Georg Nordensvan, Svensk konst och svenska konstnärer i nittonde århundradet. II. Från Karl XV till sekelslutet, Ny, grundligt omarbetad upplaga, Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm (1925) 1928, p. 437 Stockholm, Liljevalchs konsthall, Folk – Musik – Dans i nordisk konst, 1990, no. 64, ill. p. 63 Art Nouveau. Från Larssons till Zappa., red.., ill. p. 105 Rackstadkolonin. Stämningsmåleri, konsthantverk & design, red. Karin Sidén, Anna Meister, Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm, 2025., no. 61, ill. p. 241