Lot 9
  • 9

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Estimate
70,000 - 100,000 GBP
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Description

  • Akseli Gallen-Kallela
  • Rower on the Lake
  • signed GALLEN / KALLELA lower right; inscribed and dated 1916 on the lower left framing edge
  • oil on canvas
  • 68 by 55.5cm., 26½ by 22in.

Provenance

Possibly acquired from the artist by the great-grandmother of the present owner; thence by descent 

Condition

The canvas has not been lined. There are some fine scattered lines of hairline craquelure. Two minor spots of paint flaking (also visible in the catalogue illustration) are visible in the water closer to the centre of the right framing edge and to the left of the tree trunk - these could benefit from some consolidation. Ultra-violet shows no clear sign of retouching. This work is in good original condition and is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"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 1916, the present work reinterprets Gallen's composition The Rower, painted some twenty-five years earlier and now in the collection of the Gösta Serlachius Arts Foundation (fig. 1).

In 1911 the artist and his family returned to Finland from their travels in British East Africa (modern-day Kenya). Disturbed by the road building works then underway to allow the movement of Russian artillery pieces, in 1916 Gallen left his newly built, spacious studio at Tarvaspää near Helsinki. Instead he returned to his first wilderness studio 'Kalela', on the shore of Lake Ruovesi. It was there that the present work was likely painted, although the boat itself is more typical of the eastern Karelia region. The bold colours and expressive handling of the brush are characteristic of the artist’s later work, as is the signature: not Axel Gallén, but the Finnicised Gallen-Kallela, which Gallen called himself after 1907.

As well as the beautiful rendering of the water, the tree stump lying in the shallows – not present in the 1891 composition – are notable features of the present work. A vanitas motif, Gallen later used a very similar tree-trunk motif in The Lamenting Boat of 1924 (Jalmari Finne Foundation, on loan to the Tampere City Collection).