This extensive late 19th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Axel Nordgren (1828-1888) depicts a breathtaking view across a waterfall towards a partially cloud-covered mountain in the Alps.
A formidable onslaught of rushing water cascades over boulders - its enduring sound ringing in the ears. A clutch of mature fir trees seems timid in comparison as fallen forestry lay strewn in its wake. A majestic peak, partially obscured, rises like a behemoth - while a lone fisherman, swamped by nature, heads towards an alpine chalet. It’s the artist’s description of the ‘sublime’, his interpretation of the natural world through the looking glass of romanticism. He rarely painted on this scale but when he did, the results were electrifying.
Nordgren studied at the academies of Stockholm and Düsseldorf, training under Hans Fredrik Gude and Andreas Achenbach. Here, we see the direct influence of Gude, one of Norway's foremost romantic landscape painters. The elevated perspective reminds us of his ‘Tessefossen in Vågå in Midday Lighting’.
Drawn to Düsseldorf for its rich artistic ideals, Nordgren worked in a circle of artists known collectively as the Düsseldorf School. These were born from the German romantics and sought to combine realism with emotion via subdued colours and poignant subjects. Most preferred to paint ‘en plein air’ and study directly from nature.
“The idea is that the soul of a people is expressed through its countryside, its landscape; painters make this soul visible.”
The Düsseldorf School, in turn, inspired several other artistic movements including the Hudson River School in the USA.
Nordgren’s works are held in numerous public collections including at the National Museum, Gothenburg Art Museum, and Malmö Museum. He exhibited extensively and won medals in Lyon and Vienna.
Signed/dated in the lower left and held within a later frame.
Learn more about Axel Nordgren in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 46½” x 40” / 118cm x 102cm
Year of creation: 1872
Provenance: Private collection, Sweden.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Canvas relined. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £8,452 for ‘Fiske vid Forsen’, Oil on canvas, Helsinki, Finland, 2001.
Our reference: BRV1902
