This spirited early 20th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Alvin Stöhr (1874-1941) depicts two female friends resting by trees.

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 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.

Held in an ornate contemporary frame.

Learn more about Alvin Stöhr in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas laid on board
Overall size: 17” x 14” / 43cm x 36cm
Year of creation: c. 1923
Provenance: With the artist / Private collection, Sweden (by descent).
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Cleaned.
Our reference: BRV1564