Stockholms Auktionsverk presents a unique collection – by renowned artist J.A.G. Acke

Stockholms Auktionsverk starts the new season by proudly presenting the unique Fine Art auction: Claes Moser's collection – by J.A.G. Acke.

Today, Claes Moser is one of Sweden's most well-known art experts and dealers. Still, he took his very first step into the industry as a young student – when he dug into his student loan to buy an unsigned oil painting portraying a dark-haired boy dressed as a pirate at Stockholms Auktionsverk. It marked the beginning of a new and highly unplanned career path and a lifelong fascination with the renowned Swedish artist Johan Axel Gustaf Acke (1859-1924). Also known as one of the main representatives and trailblazers of the now-famous and sought-after Northern light.

"At the time, J.A.G. Acke was virtually forgotten, and I was lucky enough to be one of the very few out there searching for his work. But today, he has regained his position and climbed even further, especially internationally, and I am very happy about that. It may seem odd to dedicate your life to following in someone else's footsteps, but it was so fortuitous that our paths met, and it felt like we chose each other. The more I got to know Acke, the more I found myself amused by him. He was a different kind of artist – considered to be very innovative for his time – who never became predictable or got stuck painting what was expected of him. I've had fun with him all these years", says Claes Moser with a delighted smile.

In 2014, his relationship with the great artist went even further when Claes and his family took over as owners of Villa Akleja in Vaxholm, a house and a home built by J.A.G. Acke in 1901. The substantial art collection, then consisting of about 150 pieces, once again adorned the walls of the artist's residence. But after more than 50 years, this chapter of Claes Moser's story is now coming to an end. Villa Akleja has been sold, and with that, Claes has also decided to part ways with his carefully acquired Acke collection and ties the bag together with the same auction house that once helped open it.

"I have bought and sold a lot of art throughout my career, but the Acke art pieces have always been sacred. His work has never been a commodity for me, but art that I have enjoyed spending time with. It is a safe harbor that I have always returned to, but everything has its time. It feels more right towards Acke and my whole idea with this project, to finish at Stockholms Auktionsverk – where it all started once. This auction feels like a good way to say goodbye."

Claes Moser considers J.A.G. Acke to be one of the most exciting artists of his generation, and the international art world seems to be of the same opinion ­– Acke is, for example, one of the few Swedish artists represented by a significant work at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

When American art historians launched the concept of Nordic art – and established the term Northern light – in 1988 they were forced, through the author Kirk Varnedoe, to also include Scandinavians in the piece of artistic history he set out to rewrite. In his book "Nothern Light: Nordic Art at the Turn of the Century" Varnedoe depicted Acke's "Eastern Salt version I" as an example. The Northern Light exhibitions that followed also demonstrated the importance of Nordic art for American and Canadian artists who had been particularly influenced by the exhibition of Swedish artist Anders Zorn in the United States in the 1890s. In particular, the Group of Seven, a group of Canadian landscape painters, vowed their dependence on the uniqueness of Nordic art that danced a balancing act between being realistic and spiced with fairy tale content.

"The foreign interest in Swedish art from this time makes this generation of artists highly relevant. Americans, French, and British – everyone was looking for the Nordic light, and Acke was one of its main representatives. The Nordic light is about dawn and dusk, as their prolonged spectacle is unique to our place on Earth. The time between night and day are fairytale moments that have left a clear mark on how our country is portrayed in the art world and created a mystique that has influenced the art scene in other countries. We Swedes may not find it remarkable that our transition between night and day is prolonged, but the painters were the first to discover this and turn it into a new artistic expression."

But Acke also had a wide artistic range and was active not only as an easel artist but also as an illustrator and sculptor. Some of his large-scale works can be found in Stockholm City Hall, where he was commissioned by Ragnar Östberg to design mythological stucco works for the Prince's Gallery. He is also responsible for some of his time's most famous Art Nouveau furniture. Acke was a popular and positive figure with ideas far ahead of his time, that the Swedish cultural elite liked to associate themselves with. Through his marriage to Eva "Eja" Topelius – daughter of the Finnish national poet Zacharias Topelius – he soon became associated with the position of Sweden's great fairy tale artist after illustrating his father-in-law's books.

By his friend and renowned author and poet Verner von Heidenstam, Acke was described as an artist who paints not only what the eye sees but the feeling it evokes in his body, and this was something new in the contemporary art world at the turn of the century.

"Acke is worth all the attention he can get; it was outstanding what he managed to do. At a time when other Swedish male artists tended to get stuck in a predictable rut, he painted his feelings and whatever came to mind. It has been amazing to follow an artist this up close and personal, with an artistic production that is rather small but still manages to contain large thoughts and broad ideas. This collection says something about Acke's career – it includes everything, from his most famous works to his first attempts with watercolor and crayon. But I will keep the first painting portraying his adopted son Fausto as a pirate because it is an essential piece for me personally and emotionally," Claes concludes.

On September 25th, Claes Moser's unique collection will go under the hammer at Stockholms Auktionsverk at Nybrogatan 32. The catalog comprises around 175 items and is available online. Viewing takes place on September 20–24th, and all objects are available for online bidding up until the hammer auction.