Edward Friström
Sweden, b.1864, d.1950
Untitled (landscape with trees)
- c. 1910
- Oil on board
- Purchased, 2005
- 302 x 315mm
- 2005/064
Tags: landscapes (representations), natural landscapes, people (agents), plein-air, rivers, trees
Brought to light, November 2009- 22 February 2011
Swedish artist Edward Friström arrived in New Zealand in 1903 having first spent several years in Australia. Although it is thought that Friström was self-taught, his work displays an assurance and confidence that belies this conclusion. He favoured painting outdoors, or ‘en plein-air’, and his direct approach to recording the New Zealand landscape was often viewed negatively as being too progressive. One contemporary reviewer commented that his work was that of a ‘fanatic’ and that he rejected ‘any detail whatsoever’. Friström’s work stands out in New Zealand painting of the early 1900s for its refreshing sense of spontaneity and vigour.
Exhibition History
[Nature's Own Voice, 6 February – 26 July 2009]http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/exhibitions/natures-own-voice)
Swedish artist Edward Friström arrived in New Zealand in 1903 and travelled extensively throughout both the North and South Islands completing plein-air sketches. In 1925 he stated in a letter that he preferred working outdoors to the studio. There is a refreshing sense of spontaneity in this untitled work; the thickly applied impasto paint has been vigorously laid down, suggesting that the artist worked quickly to record the scene before him.
Related
Notes
A second birthday post in as many days?
Well, kind of... Happy birthday for tomorrow to Swedish artist Edward Friström, who came to New Zealand in 1903.