The Swedish Club in Paris - An Art History

French culture has long played a decisive role in Sweden’s art life. Already in the Middle Ages, when Swedish students traveled to Paris, the exchange between our countries was intense and multifaceted. Traces of this dialogue can still be seen in Swedish museums as well as in French institutions, such as Centre Pompidou, closely tied to the legendary museum director Pontus Hultén (currently the subject of an exhibition at the Grand Palais). The Swedish artist colony in Paris was for several periods a cultural hub – a phenomenon also reflected in the art collection of the Swedish Club in Paris.
From the 1870s onward, France once again became the focal point for Swedish artists abroad, after Rome and Düsseldorf had previously been the primary destinations. Paris enticed with its Salons, where the French state acquired works for museums across the country. Swedish artists such as Alfred Wahlberg, Per Ekström, Allan Österlind, Carl Larsson and Ville Vallgren sought out the metropolis, often gathering in the outskirts of Barbizon and later Grez-sur-Loing. Many of these artists broke with the Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts in protest against its conservative stance. Calling themselves Opponenterna (“the Opponents”), they founded the Artists’ Association in 1886 – and many of these events played out in France.
At the same time, Swedish presence in Paris broadened. What had first consisted mainly of artists and scientists now came to include craftsmen and industrial representatives. It became natural to establish a meeting place: the Swedish-Norwegian Society, founded in 1891, which after the dissolution of the union changed its name to the Swedish Club. The club’s statutes were in fact drafted at the home of Julia Beck – even though women would not be admitted as members until 1936.
The Club was partly furnished through contributions from artists and Alfred Nobel himself. Already in its first year, the premises were adorned with works such as Per Hasselberg’s sculpture The Frog. In 1895, Nobel’s will was witnessed by several members of the Club, among them its first chairman Sigurd Ehrenborg. The art collection grew quickly with acquisitions of works by Gustav Albert Andersson, Alfred Wahlberg, Axel Hägg, Mauritz Lindström and Anders Zorn, to name a few. The “plate portraits” – painted between 1894 and 1908 – are a chapter in themselves. A total of 38 were created, of which six survive today. Among the most famous is Carl Larsson’s portrait of consul Otto Broms.
In the 1890s, Norwegian artists such as Fritz Thaulow, Johannes Grimelund and Hans Heyerdahl also became active in the Club, reflecting its then-name: the Swedish-Norwegian Society. Nils Forsberg’s patriotic and anti-militarist paintings, in which several members posed as models, clearly show how art and contemporary history intertwined.
During the 1910s, a new generation of modernists entered the Paris stage – Isaac Grünewald, Einar Jolin, Nils von Dardel and Rolf de Maré – all of whom were connected to the Swedish Club. Influenced by Cézanne, Gauguin and van Gogh, these artists helped shape new directions in Swedish art.
Maison Watteau, founded in 1923 in Montparnasse, became a new cultural hub where Swedish and French artists lived, worked, and exhibited together. The initiative, supported by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, gathered names such as Grünewald, Otte Sköld, Otto G. Carlsund and Fernand Léger. Even Picasso, Matisse and van Dongen appeared among the many guests at its festivities. Yet artistic temperaments were strong, and after support was withdrawn in 1935, the initiative was closed.
Meanwhile, the Tessin Institute, founded by Gunnar W. Lundberg, played an increasing role as a meeting place for Swedish art in Paris. During the Second World War, the Swedish Club once again became a gathering point, though on a more subdued scale. Several works were donated during this period, among them by Anders Österlind and Eero Snellman. During the Liberation of Paris, Lundberg helped save the Club’s collection from harm by rolling the works away to safe storage.
After the war, a new generation was drawn to Paris: Gustaf Rudberg, Lennart Rodhe, Bengt Lindström and Ulf Trotzig. They were fascinated by the light, the noise and the colors of Paris – so different from the silence of Sweden. Many settled in suburbs such as Villiers-le-Bel and Savigny-sur-Orge, but few sought out the Club, which by then was perceived as more traditional.
Ahead of the 100-year anniversary in 1991, a commemorative medal by Gudmar Olovson and a lithograph by Lennart Jirlow (A Toast in Brännvin and Champagne) were commissioned – the first copies being presented to the King and Queen and to Prince Bertil. In 1994, Jirlow’s A Spring Day in Provence was acquired, today one of the most beloved works in the collection and included in the auction.
Over the years, the Swedish Club’s art collection has grown organically – sometimes through acquisitions, more often through generous donations. Like a living archive, it reflects more than a century of Swedish artistic presence in Paris. Now, as the Club moves to new premises while still holding a significant number of works, it has decided to part with part of its collection. Stockholms Auktionsverk is proud to present and sell pieces of this art history. The strength lies in the shared commitment of artists, members and the board: to keep a living collection alive – in step with the times, in dialogue with history.

All lots in this themed auction sold without reserve.