Torsten Renqvist - A Private Collection

Stockholms Auktionsverk is proud to present selections from a collection of works by one of Sweden’s leading 20th-century artists—Torsten Renqvist. The collection has been built over time by KG Ljungdahl, who got to know Torsten Renqvist in the early 1950s. Through his dedication to Renqvist's artistry, which included collaborating on photography and assisting with the hanging of several of Renqvist’s exhibitions, Ljungdahl’s collection features works from various periods of the artist's career, with a focus on his painting. It is with great pleasure that we now present a large number of Renqvist’s paintings, created from the late 1940s to the 1960s, when he transitioned entirely to sculpture. The collection also includes around ten sculptures, including the renowned piece “Lilla elefanten drömmer” (“The Little Elephant Dreams”). Torsten Renqvist was born in 1924 in Ludvika. After a short period at Otte Sköld’s painting school in Stockholm, he continued his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1946 to 1948. He then returned to Sweden to study at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm under Sven Erixson between 1948 and 1950. This was followed by study trips to the Netherlands, Germany, Paris, and London, where he stayed as a British Council scholarship recipient from 1951 to 1952. Renqvist made his debut in 1950 with an exhibition at Lilla Galleriet in Stockholm while still a student. He quickly established himself as one of the most intriguing artists of his generation, earning the title of "neo-expressionist" due to his expressive paintings inspired by everyday objects such as coffee pots, paper towels, and nails. A notable example from this period is “Kastrullen” (“The Saucepan”) from 1953, which is part of this auction. During the 1950s, Renqvist's painting underwent significant stylistic and thematic changes. In a drastic move, he destroyed over 80 of his earlier works in 1954 and shifted towards abstract landscapes inspired by his travels to Arctic regions such as Lofoten and Svalbard. This period is represented by works such as “Stora utsikten 1 (Lofoten)” (“The Grand View 1 (Lofoten)”) and “Vita havets kust” (“The Coast of the White Sea”) from 1955. By the 1960s, Renqvist’s paintings became darker and more symbolic. He returned to depicting objects, now as fragments—bone pieces and other organic and inorganic forms. An example of this is the work “Ikonostas över fjädrar och en tidning, detalj” (“Iconostasis of Feathers and a Newspaper, Detail”), part of a larger painting from 1967, the final year Renqvist painted before fully dedicating himself to sculpture. Wood became his primary medium, and his sculptures ranged from playful to deeply serious. A recurring theme was animals, where he combined simple geometry with a strong symbolic sense. His animal sculptures, with their clear lines and narrative quality, also carried a philosophical and existential undertone. In later years, he also began working in bronze, and many of his best-known wooden sculptures were cast in this more durable material. The bronze allowed his works to be displayed in public spaces and reach a broader audience, while still retaining the characteristic texture of wood, creating an unusual sense of warmth and humanity in the otherwise cold material. The works included in this collection provide a wonderful overview of Renqvist’s painting, showcasing the different phases of his career. Renqvist’s art has consistently been regarded as an original and vital alternative to contemporary art movements. Dag Widman described his first encounter with Renqvist’s paintings: “Here was a painter who had gone his own way, outside the circles of concretists and illusionists, portraying reality with a strong will to expose it—unsentimental and intelligent, but with a strikingly personal and subjective expression” (Exhibition Catalogue, Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, 1988). Torsten Renqvist was recently in focus with the acclaimed retrospective exhibition “Fragment i jord och tid” (“Fragments in Earth and Time”), shown at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the fall of 2024. That exhibition also allowed viewers to experience both his painting and sculpture. His works are represented in institutions such as the Gothenburg Museum of Art, the Nationalmuseum, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Norrköping Art Museum, Kalmar Art Museum, Malmö Museum, and the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. We warmly welcome you to explore this rich collection of works by one of Sweden’s most distinctive and expressive artists!