Studio: international art (49.1910)

Studio- Talk

While Sparre’s exhibition was on show in
“ Konstnarshuset,” a rather miscellaneous collec-
tion of works by several Swedish, Norwegian and
Danish artists were exhibited in the galleries of
“ The Swedish Art Union,” in which some charm-
ing water-colours by Carl Larsson and some
paintings by Carl Wilhelmscn and Hanna Pauli
were most prominent.

In the Hallin Konsthandel’s galleries a memorial
exhibition of the works of Miss Eva Bonnier (1858
—1909) showed that Sweden by her death lost a
very talented artist, I dare say the only one who
could compete with the just mentioned Mrs. Pauli
for first place among Swedish women-painters.
Miss Bonnier was never a productive artist, and
all her work was done during one decade, from
1880—90, the years when nearly all the artists

that give the Swedish art of our days the high
place it now takes, first appeared before the public.
The originality of several of her fellow-artists, men
like Zorn, Carl Larsson, Bruno Liljefors, Nord-
strom, Josephson and many others, seemed to Miss
Bonnier so overwhelming that she quite lost all
faith in her own powers, and gave up painting to
become instead one of the most intelligent art
patrons we have had in Sweden. It therefore was
a great surprise to the Swedish public to find in
her a very solid artist, whose portraits and genre
paintings bore witness to an almost manly talent
and a refined sense of colour. In many respects
her pictures remind one of that very sympathetic
American artist, Miss Mary Cassatt, in her early
style. We may add that Miss Bonnier’s exhibition
also included some good objets cTart made during
the years when she had already ceased to paint.

Her name will live long in
Sweden not only through
her work, but also through
her generous gift of a large
sum of money, the interest
of which is to be used for
the beautifying of Stock-
holm.

l’automne ”

In the same galleries
were exhibited a large
collection of landscapes
by a Swedish artist, whose
name is less known in
Stockholm than in Venice
or Munich, Otto Hessel-
bom. He is already a
man of sixty, but still
this was the first time that
a considerable number of
his works had been on
show in Sweden, a rather
remarkable fact when one
considers that Hesselbom
is represented in many
public and private collec-
tions on the continent.
Hesselbom’s landscapes
are always decorative.
One never finds in his
works any real intense
study of the details, but
always a festive concep-
tion, rhythm and breadth
in the composition.
Hardly any of our land-
327

{See Brussels Studio-Talk, p. 325)

BY PAUL DUBOIS