Alvin Stöhr was an accomplished Swedish painter of portraits, still lifes, genre scenes, and landscapes.
Trained by the eminent Anders Zorn (1860-1920), Stöhr’s oeuvre is alive with impressions of fleeting light effects and buoyant colouring. His early works are somewhat finer, closer in style to his Zorn’s, but as his career progressed he loosened his handling with splendid results.
In 1893, he travelled to the US to seek further tuition and then to Helsinki where he enrolled at, what is today, the Academy of Fine Arts. It was an electrifying time for budding artists with the traditionalists often at loggerheads with the ever-evolving avant-garde. On one hand, he was encouraged to study the old masters, while on the other, being pulled towards modernity.
Stöhr returned to Sweden for almost two decades and held numerous solo exhibitions in Stockholm. But, following his marriage to Karin F Lindroos, headed once again to Finland where he opened a beach cafe in the coastal resort of Hanko.
It’s likely that this work from around 1923 was produced in Hanko. It’s a remarkable little piece and painted outside - quick daubs onto canvas with plenty of expression and impasto.
An interesting photograph (courtesy of the Finnish Heritage Agency) shows the artist standing before the cafe with several ladies. One is presumably his wife.
It’s reminiscent of another painting from the same period, titled ‘Picnic’. Both are abundant with joy - he was newly married, spending warm summers on the sand, and loving life.
Today, Alvin Stöhr is represented in the Swedish Royal Collection and at the Ateneum in Helsinki.
Exhibited
Sweden's Allmänna Konstförening.
Public Collections
HM King Gustav VI Adolf's collection, Ateneum in Helsinki.
Timeline
1874
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Alvin Stöhr, a chef, and Karin Stöhr.
1882
Moved to Stockholm, Sweden, with his family.
1892-1893
Trained under Anders Zorn.
1893
Travelled to the USA.
1897
Moved to Finland where he trained at the Finnish Art Association's drawing school Ateneum in Helsinki (now the Academy of Fine Arts).
1919
Solo exhibition in Stockholm.
1920
Married Karin F Lindroos.
1921
Opened a beach cafe in Hanko, Finland.
1931
Settled in Stockholm.
Paintings acquired by Prince Eugene and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf.
1941
Died in Stockholm.