Once upon a time, more than 40 years ago, Mikael Wiehe caught sight of “a picture of a girl
With a wounded crow in her arms.” She was running with “fluttering curls” on “scrawny legs,” and the crow was “clumsy and cawing black.”
The image he saw—which inspired one of his most beloved songs—was painted by... yes, you guessed it: Oscar Cleve.
The self-taught Cleve is an unusual name in modern Swedish art history. But his small, humorous images have had a devoted audience for decades—not least among the readers of Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. Cleve worked as both a visual artist and an illustrator, and now, as Södermanlands Auktionsverk presents 30 lots featuring works by Cleve, we get to meet him in both roles.
Give him a few minutes of your time. You won’t regret it.
Welcome!
