Einar Jolin
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View from Södermalm.
Signed Jolin and dated 1936. Canvas 54.5 x 65 cm.
Provenance
Bukowski Auktioner, Moderna Vårauktionen, 2008, lot. 68.
Exhibitions
Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm, "Eleganten Einar", 2010, cat. no. 4.
More information
In the spring of 1914, Einar Jolin returned home from Paris to participate in the Baltic Exhibition in Malmö, an exposition featuring artists from the countries around the Baltic Sea. In Paris, he had studied under Henri Matisse and produced a series of model studies, acquiring a spontaneous and natural swiftness in his brushwork. His plan was to return to Paris after the summer, but when World War I broke out on 28 July, the route to France was closed. He managed to secure his own small studio at Fiskargatan 9, in the so-called "Scandal House" near Katarina Church on the heights of Södermalm. From his windows, he had a mesmerising view of the city, the Strömmen, and the inlet. In this studio, during the years 1914-1915, some now famous and highly valued Stockholm scenes were created. He divided the view into section after section, towards Stadsgården, towards Riddarholmen, including "Strömmen towards Skeppsbron" 1914 (Stockholm City Museum), "View over Riddarholmen" 1914 (Moderna Museet, acquired by Nationalmuseum in 1919) and "View towards Kastellholmen" 1915 (Herman Gotthardt's collection, today Malmö Art Museum). The paintings are characterised by his swiftly sweeping brushstrokes and strong contours that frame the bright, fresh palette.
In connection with his retrospective exhibition at Liljevalchs in 1957, Einar Jolin himself described his view of his artistry and the distinctive expressionism he developed and continued to adhere to with the words:
"What I want to express in my art is what I have experienced in existence when I have concentrated and delved into it. There is an everyday view - humans have named everything that surrounds them in life and then they find everything self-evident and do not see the wonder. Art, as I understand it, is to give form to the wonderful in existence, to create beauty and harmony, to be able to lift the sensitive spectator from the trivial everyday into the beautiful and incomprehensible world we live in. If I have succeeded in that, perhaps I have not lived in vain."
Jolin became the quintessential painter of Stockholm, and its exteriors remained his own Arcadia throughout his life. Whether the city is bathed in spring sunshine or winter haze, its beauty remains untouched.