Highlights in upcoming Fine Art auction Modern & Contemporary at Stockholms Auktionsverk

Swedish Modern, a newly discovered piece by Auguste Herbin, and Stig Lindberg's treasure trove – the upcoming edition of Modern & Contemporary at Stockholms Auktionsverk offers some of the finest objects on the market. The Fine Art auction will be held on May 21-22nd at Nybrogatan 32 in Stockholm and will be available for online bidding. The viewing runs from May 15-20th, and the catalogue is now published online.

The Contemporary and International Art section features American artist Jim Dine's work, ‘Pinocchio's Unhappiness About Those He Cares About’. Dine's interpretation of Pinocchio goes beyond the traditional fairy tale and offers a deeper, more nuanced exploration of man's inner world and his eternal quest for truth and identity.

“Jim Dine is a major international artist who is still active and often returns to a selected motif collection. Like the heart, bathrobes, Venus, and, in these two cases - Pinocchio. It is clear from both the technique and the subject that this work is very typical of Jim Dine. In a way, he has spent his entire career portraying the figure of Pinocchio through his artistic lens, the little boy who becomes a symbol and an embodiment of humanity by being placed in different situations. He becomes a vessel that holds all the viewer's emotions. At the same time, Pinocchio expresses everything the artist himself wants to say,” explains Johanna Malm, specialist in Swedish and International Contemporary Art.

A work that is smaller in size but bigger in sensation is ‘Paysage’ - a newly discovered work by French artist Auguste Herbin. An unusually early work believed to have been executed around 1908, it is now on public display for the first time.

“Auguste Herbin was very much inspired by Fauvism and was born in Paris a few decades before it made its big impact. The Fauves had a completely new way of painting, and most of them went on to paint in a more cubist style, Herbin being one of them. This work comes from a private Swedish collection and has never been exhibited, but it was recently certified in Paris. Thus, although it has now been added to Auguste Herbin's artistic archive, it has never been on the market. ‘Personally, I find it fascinating how this piece manages to feel so timeless and modern at the same time - a spectacular work in many ways,” says Victoria Svederberg, Head of Art Department.

Another work that has been traveling to France for verification and certification is the exciting sculpture ‘Etude pour la Méditerranée’ by Aristide Maillol. However, it has been included in one of the exhibition catalogues of Galerie Pierre in Stockholm, where it was purchased in 1962 and has been in a private collection ever since. As a sculptor, Maillol was a master at capturing the essence of female beauty and grace. Even today, we can savor his harmonious expression of timeless eternity with its simple and pure form.

The Works of Art department is characterised by the Swedish Modern style ideal and the now popular Swedish modernists, a market that has heated up considerably in recent years.

“On the furniture side, we have some really nice Axel Einar Hjorth pieces, including the ‘Utö’ library table. We are noticing a great interest in the Swedish Modern style ideal in general, an aesthetic that we have long been passionate about but has reached the public in a completely new way in recent years. Axel Einar Hjorth and Josef Frank are obviously among the leading names. Still, they were followed by several of our greatest designers – Carl-Axel Acking, for example,” explains Ulrika Ruding, Head of Works of Art Department.

“The Swedish modernists met in an idiom that has become very fashionable recently, which is evident not least in how the Swedish Modern aesthetic is picked up by contemporary designers and furniture manufacturers. But this is the original. And the original has a beauty that cannot be imitated, a patina built up over time that is as much in the eye as in the feeling of running your hand over the veneer. Once you have seen and experienced the original, the copy is slightly paler.”

In the auction catalogue, the Swedish modernists have been joined by a collection of high-quality Danish furniture, such as six ‘T-Chairs’ in Jacaranda designed by Ole Wanscher as early as 1958, marked with the name of master carpenter AJ Iversen, the foremost cabinetmaker of his time in Denmark. A dining table in the same wood type was designed by Wilhelm Wohlert and made by master carpenter Arne Poulsen in 1963. And twelve chairs with seats covered in rattan signed Niels O. Møller. There is also a colourful display of textiles in the catalogue, including several beautiful rugs signed Märta Måås-Fjetterström and Barbro Nilsson, with ‘Strålblomma’ shining particularly brightly. Among the lighting, the eight-armed ceiling lamp by Harald Notini, made at Arvid Böhlmark's Lampfabrik, is an unmissable centrepiece.

Another unusual time capsule can be found in the ceramics section, where a whole small treasure trove of Stig Lindberg's miniatures will go under the gavel. Lindberg's miniatures are rarely seen on the market, and for them to be presented this way in a wooden schatull is particularly rare. The auction also includes larger-scale objects by all the big names in Swedish ceramics from this period – Berndt Friberg, Hans Hedberg, Birger Kaipiainen, and Wilhelm Kåge. The latter is represented with several quality objects from his iconic 'Farsta' series.

Welcome to the Modern & Contemporary auction online.