Self-taught or schooled, generations of painters have looked to the still life for inspiration, for practice, a method of investigation – of composition, of form. A century ago, the still life was considered the lowest of paint forms, following history paintings, portraiture, genre paintings, and landscapes. Through the ghosts of the artists of the past, artists whose names reverberate through art history like Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Giorgio Morandi, still life painting has risen to the upper echelons of painting.
This grouping of spectacular Swedish Modernists, unlike van Gogh, unlike Morandi, have yet to mount museums emblazoned with their names and, unusually for this gallery, are completely unknown to the American art market. Each and every one of these paintings is a work that resonates deeply for this curator. Each is felt in my bones. The kernel of truth within (for me) a truly fantastic work of art explodes meaningfully from the lines of that white chair, the sheen of that oil can, the exquisite roughness of this terra cotta pot. The Swedish school as a whole encapsulates five hundred years of painters, but these paintings, all dated around mid-twentieth century are poised to beg the question, “Why is one artist invisible and one not?”