Scan Magazine

By Christina Sanderson

Autumn is a vibrant, buzzing time for the art market in London; in the middle of October the leading and uber-trendy world contemporary art fair, Frieze took place. Scandinavian art held its own, with Danish, Swedish and Norwegian galleries all present at the fair representing artists such as Olafur Eliasson (who was responsible for the captivating Weather Project in Tate Modern’s turbine hall in 2004) and Mamma Andersson.

The major auction houses hold Scandinavian art sales in London towards the end of the year. Among them is Sotheby’s, which has a Scandinavian paintings section in its November nineteenth century paintings sale.

Carl Larsson
Highlights of the auction include a Carl Larsson watercolour, Spegelbild med Brita of 1895 (estimate £400,000-£600,000) depicting Larsson sitting in his studio at home in Dalarna with his daughter, Brita, affectionately clasped on his knee; Larsson is staring intently at a mirror before him as he works on a double-portrait of the two of them.  In the background is a painting of Larsson’s son, Pontus, and to the right of the picture are two vast canvas-covered ‘flats’: Larsson’s work on the mural designs that still adorn the stairs of Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum.

Little Gudrun
Another highlight is Little Gudrun (estimate £120,000-£180,000), an early work by the Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck, painted soon after the artist had returned to Helsinki from a spell in Paris.  Schjerfbeck’s work is now in high-demand: The Dancing shoes sold at Sotheby’s last year for three million pounds, a world record price for a Finnish artist at auction.

Demand for high-quality
It will be fascinating to follow the autumn auctions; the credit-crunch has had a marked effect on the art market notably in the contemporary field, yet the demand for good quality, fresh pieces remains buoyant.  Claude Piening, a senior director at Sotheby’s says: “Like most areas in the current market, demand outstrips supply for works of the highest quality which are fresh to the market. Internationally recognised artists such as Larsson and Schjerfbeck continue to command top prices.”

Throughout the course of art history, high-quality work stands the test of time.

Sotheby’s Nineteenth century European paintings sale takes place on November 24th.