A Summer Night at Tyresö

Prins Eugen 1895

Nationalmuseum Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden

When the artists Marcus Larson and Alfred Wahlberg wanted to portray sublime Swedish views in the mid-1800s, they would paint inhospitable terrain, with strong winds and rapid waters. Towards the end of the century, a deep tranquility settled over landscapes. In this painting by Prince Eugen of a view from Tyresö, the night light that is so characteristic of the Nordic summer, lets the gaze roam far across the deep waters and forests. The experience of vast expanses is enhanced by a serene stillness.

Details

Title: A Summer Night at Tyresö
Creator: Prins Eugen
Creator Lifespan: 1865/1947
Creator Nationality: Swedish
Creator Gender: Male
Creator Death Place: Stockholm
Creator Birth Place: Drottningholm Palace
Date Created: 1895
Title in Swedish: Sommarnatt Tyresö
Signature: Eugen 1895
Physical Dimensions: w1440 x h780 cm (without frame)
Artist Information: Prince Eugen was the son of King Oscar II and Queen Sophia of Sweden. His choice of an artistic career was not one he made lightly, even though he had the suport of his parents. Quite clearly, however, he saw art as a calling, and his extensive training and devotion to his task set him worlds apart from the royal dilettante. Indeed, it could be said that Eugen became an artist more despite than because of his royal birth. With his open mind, he was drawn towards the radical tendencies of the 1880s, and was to include among his friends many of the Swedish artists who in that and the following decade figured among the ranks of the Opponents and the Artist’s Association. Prince Eugen’s significance for art policy and the support which his acquisitions for his own collection gave to Swedish contemporary art were considerable. Eugen began his artistic education in his youth, under various teachers, and on completing his secondary schooling read history of art for a time in Uppsala. After his studies in Sweden, he was to receive a major part of his artistic training in Paris. Between 1887 and 1889 he was a pupil of Léon Bonnat, Alfred Roll, Henri Gervex and, for a short time, Puvis de Chavannes. The latter’s classical simplicity, especially, was to mould Eugen’s development. Prince Eugen devoted himself exclusively to landscape painting. Geographically, his main areas of interest were the countryside around Stockholm and Lake Mälaren, along with areas further to the south, in Västergötland and Skåne.
Type: Painting
Rights: Nationalmuseum, Nationalmuseum
Medium: Oil on canvas

Additional Items

Photograph

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

View in Augmented Reality

Oil paint

Interested in Visual arts?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

No, thanks

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Translate with Google

Google apps

Create a Mobile Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic