Description
The swirling brushstrokes and telescopic perspective in this view of a field near Stockholm, Sweden, converge on the dark mass of trees and dying sunset in the center. Feelings of melancholy and loneliness are relieved only by the appearance of the first evening star. Although little known in the United States, Eugène Janssen was one of the most important artists of Scandinavian modernism. He became aware of the works of the Norwegian Symbolist Edvard Munch as early as 1884 and shared Munch’s ambition of exploring psychological states of mind rather than adhering to external appearances.
Provenance
Richard Bergh [1858-1919], Stockholm, Sweden friend of the artist; Adrian Bergh, son of Richard Bergh, Stockhom, Sweden (-1980s); The Bergh Family Collection, Stockholm, Sweden until the 1980s (-1980s); (Claes Moser, Stockholm, Sweden, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (-2005); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2005-)
Accession Number
2005.4
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 94 x 172.4 x 5.1 cm (37 x 67 7/8 x 2 in.); Unframed: 90.1 x 168.6 cm (35 1/2 x 66 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas Swedish
Background & Context
Background Story
Eugene Jansson (1862-1915) was a Swedish painter known as the 'Painter of the Blue Hour' for his atmospheric paintings of Stockholm at twilight that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the Swedish tradition. Evening Mood-Lidingo from 1900 depicts the evening mood over the island of Lidingo near Stockholm in the atmospheric, precisely observed manner that distinguishes Jansson's best work. Jansson was known for his atmospheric paintings of Stockholm and its surroundings in the blue hour of twilight, capturing the uniquely Scandinavian quality of light with remarkable precision and atmosphere, and Evening Mood-Lidingo shows the Swedish landscape tradition at its most accomplished.
Cultural Impact
Evening Mood-Lidingo is important in the history of Swedish painting because it demonstrates the atmospheric, precisely observed manner that Jansson—known as the 'Painter of the Blue Hour'—brought to landscape painting as one of the most accomplished painters of the Swedish tradition. Jansson's atmospheric paintings of Stockholm and its surroundings in the blue hour of twilight—capturing the uniquely Scandinavian quality of light with remarkable precision—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Swedish painting, and the 1900 painting shows this tradition at its most atmospheric.
Why It Matters
Evening Mood-Lidingo is Jansson's atmospheric Swedish landscape: the evening mood over Lidingo rendered in the precisely observed manner of the 'Painter of the Blue Hour.' The 1900 painting shows the uniquely Scandinavian quality of twilight that is the hallmark of Jansson's most accomplished work.
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