DOI issue:
No. 225 (December 1911)
DOI article:Gauffin, Axel: The landscape paintings of Prince Eugen of Sweden
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21155#0203
Prince Eugen of Sweden
white panelling; Richard Bergh's cartoon of his
celebrated portrait-group of the Governors of the
Swedish Association of Arts; Zorn's portrait of
Queen Sophia, and much else which cannot now
be named. But the most beautiful room of all is
the dining-room, the walls of which are a white,
shimmering background to the deep, full colours
of The Old Castle and The Cloud.
Through the high, crystal-clear windows glimpses
are caught of the swarming life of the great water-
way below, while everywhere the sun flows in,
one broad, billowing sea of light. This it is that
gives the house its blithe, open character. It is as
if he who dwells within these walls must have
fought his way hither through deep shadows ; must
have hewn a path through tangling, hindering
thickets, out to this sunshine-flooded rock by the
shore. Each window, each flower-mantled terrace,
whispers the words that stand, graven in gold,
above the portal: " Sole, sole gaudio."
Prince Eugen takes possession of "Valdemar's
Udde," not merely because of payments made, of
legal rights. He makes the land his, foot by foot,
in right of the joy which is the portion of the
artistic discoverer of hidden beauties, which is
won by the listener to hitherto unheeded dream-
land tales. He steps out on to The Balcony of
one of the ancient houses (1903) and sees the
thousand lights of the city gleam tremblingly across
the water. When autumn comes he wanders dowri
the avenue that leads to My Old House, in whose
entry the lamp gleams so invitingly through the
misty darkness. And when he stands by the shore
he catches a glimpse of The Factory on the other
side, lit up by the afternoon sun, or sees the ghost-
like silhouette of The Timber Hoy glide past in the
growing dusk.
And he paints all these things. His eye
becomes familiar with boats and factories. It is
as if interest in the pulsating, industrial life had
been awakened in him, here on this headland,
where he has been thrown into its very midst.
We think this is the natural, psychological ex-
planation of the change which, about 1906, became
noticeable in Prince Eugen's painting. It was a
feeling that the colouristic scale of his work
white panelling; Richard Bergh's cartoon of his
celebrated portrait-group of the Governors of the
Swedish Association of Arts; Zorn's portrait of
Queen Sophia, and much else which cannot now
be named. But the most beautiful room of all is
the dining-room, the walls of which are a white,
shimmering background to the deep, full colours
of The Old Castle and The Cloud.
Through the high, crystal-clear windows glimpses
are caught of the swarming life of the great water-
way below, while everywhere the sun flows in,
one broad, billowing sea of light. This it is that
gives the house its blithe, open character. It is as
if he who dwells within these walls must have
fought his way hither through deep shadows ; must
have hewn a path through tangling, hindering
thickets, out to this sunshine-flooded rock by the
shore. Each window, each flower-mantled terrace,
whispers the words that stand, graven in gold,
above the portal: " Sole, sole gaudio."
Prince Eugen takes possession of "Valdemar's
Udde," not merely because of payments made, of
legal rights. He makes the land his, foot by foot,
in right of the joy which is the portion of the
artistic discoverer of hidden beauties, which is
won by the listener to hitherto unheeded dream-
land tales. He steps out on to The Balcony of
one of the ancient houses (1903) and sees the
thousand lights of the city gleam tremblingly across
the water. When autumn comes he wanders dowri
the avenue that leads to My Old House, in whose
entry the lamp gleams so invitingly through the
misty darkness. And when he stands by the shore
he catches a glimpse of The Factory on the other
side, lit up by the afternoon sun, or sees the ghost-
like silhouette of The Timber Hoy glide past in the
growing dusk.
And he paints all these things. His eye
becomes familiar with boats and factories. It is
as if interest in the pulsating, industrial life had
been awakened in him, here on this headland,
where he has been thrown into its very midst.
We think this is the natural, psychological ex-
planation of the change which, about 1906, became
noticeable in Prince Eugen's painting. It was a
feeling that the colouristic scale of his work