55 Shapes of Bronze

Stockholms Auktionsverk Göteborg presents an auction featuring no fewer than 55 sculptures. Together, they offer a glimpse into the history of Swedish sculpture, spanning a wide spectrum of expressive forms and highlighting shifting ideals within realism, modernism, and humanism.

The collection includes works by Fernandez Arman, Edvin Öhrström, Lisa Larson, Arvid Knöppel, Carl Eldh, Eric Elenius, Bror Marklund, and others. Monumental expressions are interspersed with delicate, nature-inspired, and widely beloved pieces, providing a compelling overview of both Swedish and international design heritage during the 20th century. Do not miss Johan Peter Molin’s Bältesspännarna, which depicts an intense, one-on-one fight. Bound together by a wide leather belt, the two combatants settle their dispute with knives—a motif characteristic of 19th-century National Romanticism and myths surrounding ancient Norse honor. This work served as Molin’s major breakthrough around the mid-19th century. Another highlight is Nils Fougstedt’s Lekande par; with its stylized form and careful attention to silhouette, physical movement, and compositional balance, it perfectly exemplifies Fougstedt’s keen sense for the volume and rhythm of the human body. A more intimate portrayal of the human form can be found in Gerhard Henning’s Sonja, where the understated presentation invites reflection on the nature of the gaze and the surrounding space.

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