Claes Grundström

Pompeii Ruins and Vesuvius - Watercolor 1919

1919

A rare ink and watercolor drawing by Carl Palme, dated 1921 and signed “CP 21,” captures the intimate character of Positano’s narrow alleys. Measuring ca. 20 x 24 cm without frame. Inscribed on the back that it´s a preparatory study for a larger oil painting. Early 20th century works by Palme are scarce. Carl Palme (1879–1960): Painter, Printmaker, and Cosmopolitan Artist. He was born in Stockholm in 1879, the son of bank director Henrik Palme and Anna Lavonius. He grew up on the family estate of Svalnäs, now a guest home and senior residence. From an early age, Palme showed a sensitivity to both literature and art, interests that would later merge in his career as painter, draftsman, printmaker, and author. His artistic education began in London at the Slade School of Fine Art (1900–1901), where he was introduced to modern European currents. From 1902 to 1904, he studied in Munich at Wassily Kandinsky’s art school, absorbing early expressions of color and form. In 1907, Palme moved to Paris, where he became the first Swedish student of Henri Matisse. Together with fellow Scandinavian artists, he was instrumental in founding the Académie Matisse, a collective of young painters who rented a large studio in Paris. Matisse himself visited weekly, critiquing their work and shaping what would later become a decisive wave of modernism in Swedish art. Among the group were such notable names as Isaac Grünewald, Sigrid Hjertén, and Einar Jolin...

Watercolor painting depicting a nocturnal scene of Venice, featuring a gondola gliding slowly through the water under a full moon, by Karl Bergquist. Signed and dated "K Bergquist Ve...

A serene, wind‑still sunset scene in watercolor: a woman and a man in a small boat moored to a jetty, both with their backs to the viewer as they tend to their fishing nets. The glas...

A finely worked watercolour on paper depicts a mounted cavalry officer—formal in bearing and costume—painted with the delicate clarity for which Egron Lundgren is best known. The she...