Lot 44
  • 44

FRITS THAULOW | The Lysaker River in Winter

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • The Lysaker River in Winter
  • signed Frits Thaulow lower right
  • pastel on canvas
  • 65 by 93cm., 25½ by 36½

Provenance

Johannes Irgens (presumably a gift from the artist. Norwegian diplomat and politician, and from 1908-10 Norwegian ambassador to the Court of St. James, Irgens (1869-1939) was a friend of the artist. They met at the Norwegian Students Association in Kristiania (Oslo), around 1891 when Thaulow was chairman of the Association. Irgens himself later became chairman in 1897); thence by descent to the present owner

Condition

Pastel on canvas. There is a board glued to the back of the stretcher, thus preventing inspection of the reverse. Colours are strong and vibrant. This work appears to be in very good condition and is ready to hang. Presented glazed, in a decorative gilt frame.
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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 circa 1891-92.

Buoyed by success at the Paris Exposition universelle of 1889, Thaulow increasingly sought an international audience for his work, and relocated to France in 1892. The importance of the present composition, depicting a river west of Oslo, to Thaulow is underlined by the numerous versions he executed in different media. In addition to the present undated pastel, four other pastels of the composition are known: two dated 1891, and two 1892 (the latter now respectively in the Musée d'Orsay and Rogalin Palace Museum, Poznan). Thaulow had experimented with pastel from 1883 onwards, especially for winter scenes. Further versions exist in oil, probably from the late 1890s, including one in the Puschkin Museum, Moscow (formerly in the Shchukin Collection). Thaulow also returned to the subject in twenty coloured etchings of circa 1903-06, titled Effet de neige en Norvège, of which an edition of 150 was made.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Vidar Poulsson.