Good Art XVI

Crafoord Auktioner Stockholm presents the themed auction Good Art XVI, highlighting this month’s selection of notable artists and works. These deserve to be seen within a broader context and, hopefully, to enrich many walls.
We now champion art by presenting over 300 works by artists such as Jim Dine, Lucio Fontana, Marc Chagall, Ola Billgren, Tom Wesselmann, Gösta Werner, Aly Ben Salem, Roberto Matta, Pablo Picasso, Lennart Jirlow, Roj Friberg, Antoni Clavé, Oliver Whitehead, Anders Zorn, Hans Jörg Glattfelder, Lennart Rodhe, Olle Olsson Hagalund, Wifredo Lam, Jules Schyl, Ernst Norlind, Ai Weiwei, Jean Dubuffet, Arno Vihalemm, Felix Hatz, Hugo Lepik, Lars Hillersberg, Alexandre Fassianos, and many more.
Among the highlights is an intriguing collection of art posters from the 1920s to the 1980s, including ten Picasso posters, as well as original artwork for film posters by Eric Rohman. The sale also presents smaller thematic sections featuring the artists Roger Risberg and Joseph Reno, along with photographs by Ola Billgren. In addition, we highlight an exciting collection of literature and art journals containing original prints, including Miró Lithographe, Derrière le Miroir, XXe Siècle, and others. Pablo Picasso’s personally signed and numbered book La Guerre et La Paix is something quite exceptional.
On the sculpture side, the auction includes works by Lars-Erik Falk, Jussi Mäntynen, Bror Hjorth, José Luis Sánchez, Arvids Strauss, and Christian Eriksson, whose The Archer can also be seen at Kornhamnstorg in Stockholm, among others.
The name Good Art has been used in other contexts before. In 1941, the exhibition “Good Art in Every Home” opened under the auspices of HSB. The aim of the exhibition was to promote the presence of quality art in the home. As stated in the catalogue preface, it was not enough to build good housing—art must also have its place. The guiding principle was to offer good art to a wider public at affordable prices. To ensure that the art was truly “good,” a jury of well-known artists and art experts was engaged to review the works to be exhibited. The result was that, for example, GAN’s oil painting Berns (1918) could be purchased for SEK 5,000, the tempera Ratten for SEK 350, and Laboratorium for SEK 500. Other artists involved in the “art for the people” initiative included Oskar Bergman, Einar Jolin, Arne Jones, Isaac Grünewald, Sixten Lundbohm, and Erik and Axel Olson. The exhibition’s 10th anniversary was held at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm.
In the same year, 1941, Gunnar Hjorthén (1913–1997) opened Galleri God Konst on Vallgatan in Gothenburg. He would come to be regarded as something of an institution in the city’s art scene. The gallery later moved to several locations, including Drottninggatan, the Concert Hall, and Södra Vägen. Hjorthén dedicated himself to promoting and highlighting “young art,” working with artists such as Ivan Ivarson, Karin Parrow, Ragnar Sandberg, and Inge Schiöler. Largely thanks to Hjorthén and Galleri God Konst, the term “Gothenburg Colourism” was established. Like the Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Hjorthén early on sought connections with Paris, mediating contact with new currents in painting. In 1953, for example, Tsuguharu Foujita was exhibited.