Lingonberry Pickers on the Hallandsåsen Ester Almqvist 1928

Lingonberry Pickers on the Hallandsåsen
Ester Almqvist 1928
From the collection of
Malmö Konstmuseum
In Esther Almqvist, we meet a female artist who through her paintings gives us reflections and insights into a fascinating life and destiny. She was an artist who in her own way contributed to the breakthrough of modernism in Sweden. Esther was crippled from birth and her mobility was limited because of a deformed spine. Her disability made ​​it possible to study art instead of helping out at home. First she was a student at Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg 1892-93 and then at Artist League school in Stockholm 1894-95. Among colleagues, she was seen early as talented and already at school her art showed a uniqueness that pointed forward. In the beginning, she followed the national romantic art style with deep shadows and melancholy mood. A longer period of time after graduation, she lived isolated in the countryside with her mother. When the mother died, Esther broke with her old life, and also with the national romantic ideals. In 1913-14, she creates the shimmering lights and life-affirming paintings that came to characterize her mature artistry. The majority of her career spent Esther Almqvist in Lund, despite her yearning to travel out into Europe. Her physical condition deteriorates over time and mobility decreases, but the intensity and tension in her paintings is maintained, as if that path provides an outlet for her physical energy. The "Lingonberry Pickers on the Hallandsåsen" from 1928 has the color toned down to a spiritualized interplay of tones, but glow more intense under the surface. The details are reduced, the essence enlarged and been allowed to grow up. The image is both universal and timeless. Esther Almqvist challenge herself to move on. Influenced by travels, now in extended periods, she creates more expressionistic paintings with powerful dark contour lines that depict animals and humans in motion. During her life, Esther Almqvist never got no real public appreciation for her art, but four years after her death, in 1938, came the great recognition of the art critics.
Details
Title: Lingonberry Pickers on the Hallandsåsen
Date Created: 1928
Provenance: Purchased from the artist, 1930
Physical Dimensions: w54 x h37 cm (Complete)
Painter: Ester Almqvist
Exhibition History: 2011: I yearn so that I can burst - Esther Almqvist, Säfstaholm Castle Vingåker and Regions Kristianstad, Sweden
Type: Painting
Rights: Malmö Art Museum, Malmö Art Museum
Medium: Oil on canvas

Malmö Konstmuseum
Malmö, Sweden

Malmö Art Museum is one of the leading art museums in Scandinavia. The museum was founded in 1841 as part of the Malmö Museum. Later Malmö Museum was divided up to two museums: the Malmö Art Museum and Malmö Museer.The museum building from 1937 is situated in the Malmöhus castle complex, one of the oldest remaining renaissance castle in Scandinavia. Malmö Art Museum is governed by the city of Malmö.

The Malmö Art Museum collection now contains of about 38,000 works, covering the period from the 16th century to the present day. Most of Scandinavia's innovative and highly distinguished artists are represented at Malmö Art Museum.
In the course of the past twenty years it has assembled the largest collection of Nordic contemporary art in Scandinavia.

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Ester Almqvist
1869 - 1934

Ester Dorothea Almqvist, född 3 november 1869 i Bromma, död 11 juni 1934 i Lund, var en svensk konstnär. Hon var verksam i Skåne och fick sitt genombrott inom den nationalromantiska traditionen, men banade senare väg för modernismens genombrott i Sverige med en nyskapande neoimpressionistisk och expressionistisk oeuvre.
http://hisour.com/art-medium/paintings/lingonberry-pickers-on-the-hallandsasen-ester-almqvist-1928/