Lot 15
  • 15

Helene Schjerfbeck

Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Helene Schjerfbeck
  • My Father
  • signed with initials lower right
  • oil on canvas
  • 55.5 by 48.5cm., 21¾ by 19in.

Provenance

Gösta Stenman (1888-1947, the artist's dealer); thence by descent
Acquired by the grandfather of the present owners in the mid-1980s, possibly from the above

Exhibited

Stockholm, Stenmans konstsalong, Helene Schjerfbeck, 1954, no. 105
Stockholm, Stenmans konstsalong, Helene Schjerfbeck, 1958, no. 100
Stockholm, Stenmans konstsalong, Helene Schjerfbeck: Centenary exhibition, 1962, no. 96
Stockholm, Stenmans konstsalong, Helene Schjerfbeck, 1967, no. 64

Literature

H. Ahtela (Einar Reuter), Helena Schjerfbeck, Stockholm, 1953, p. 370, no. 913, listed (as Min far III. 1943)

Condition

This painting is in very good, virtually original condition. Original canvas. As visible in the catalogue illustration there is a faint horizontal line below the centre, which appears to relate to an old fold in the canvas before the composition was painted. There may be some very light rubbing of the ground pigments at the extreme far right (visible unframed), and raking light reveals some light surface dirt around the figure's chin. Ultra-violet light reveals no visible signs of retouching (the light green fluorescence in some areas is likely attributable to the artist's pigments). Presented in a modern frame of the type often used by Stenman (see provenance). In reality the colours are slightly less red, with more of a green cast overall than in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Painted in 1943.

While Schjerfbeck painted numerous portraits of her mother Olga seated sewing or reading, her late father Svante is a much rarer subject in her oeuvre. In February 1876, some 70 years before the present work was painted, Svante died of tuberculosis when Helene was aged just 13. While Helene was greatly influenced and encouraged by her father, Svante’s death left the young family impoverished, and it was only thanks to a family friend that Schjerfbeck could subsequently pursue her artistic education at Adolf von Becker’s academy.

Working both from memory and a daguerrotype (fig. 1), the artist achieves a successful synthesis. While Svante remains a man of his time in formal late 19th century dress, Schjerfbeck transforms the scene with her modernist style, creating an image suspended in time.

The present work is the culmination of a series of three versions of the subject: the first from 1928 (Ahtela no. 658, Min far I, 54 by 43.5cm, private collection), while the second (Ahtela no. 912, 55 by 47cm) and the present work were completed in 1943. The second version now hangs in the Didrichsen Art Museum and was included in the Schjerfbeck exhibitions in 2007 and 2012. Although very similar to the second version, the present work is painted with more definition, and with slightly less of Svante's hand visible along the lower edge.

Schjerfbeck painted the present work in the final years of her career, at a time when she was reinterpreting both her earlier subjects and the works of Old Masters, notably El Greco. In early 1942 she moved to the Luontola sanatorium in Nummela, later relocating definitively to Saltsjöbaden outside Stockholm in February 1944, where she would spend her final years.