FOLKE HOVING, Pierre Louis Alexandre “Pettersson”, oil on canvas, unsigned.

45x38 cm.
With label on verso marked F. Hoving, likely an academic work by the artist during his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm in 1888-1894.

Pierre Louis Alexandre, born in Cayenne, French Guiana in 1844 or 1845, later called himself Pettersson.
He was in his twenties when he arrived in Stockholm in April 1863 — perhaps with s/s Ostindia and sugar from Bahia. And here he remained, unloading coal and grain in the docks all his life, and marrying twice but having no children. His fame is entirely due to the fact that for twenty-five years he was a frequently hired model at the Royal Academy of Arts. There are nearly forty known depictions of him. Among those who painted his face are famous painters such as Olle Hjortzberg and Anders Zorn, but he also sat for many women artists, including Karin Bergöö (the woman who married Carl Larsson). In some of the portraits he is outfitted in a turban and harem pants, but there are also images that cleverly highlight the individual Pierre Louis Alexandre out of the exotic cliché.
Source: Museums of World Culture.

Literature: “Svarte Peder/Negern Pettersson, from Cayenne to Nationalmuseum” by Mats Werner, Bod förlag, 2021.
An English-language edition of the above bookwork is under work and where the auction artwork by Hoving has received No. 51 in the list of works.