Bertram Schmiterlöw is known to many as one of Sweden’s foremost portrait painter during the 1900s the second half, but his artistry ran significantly more than that and was characterized by an exciting artistic life. His captivating depictions characterized by a figurative, expressive and sweet coloristically painting where light and surfaces based environments. As the son of a Swedish officer and a French-born Norwegian diplomat’s daughter came Bertram Schmiterlöws upbringing and life to be shared between places in different countries. The inspiration for many of the works that are in this auction fetched from years in San Salvador de Jujuy, one of Argentina’s oldest cities located in the country’s northwest, where Bertram with his mother and younger brother moved in the mid-1940s. Hacienda Casa Sueca that the family had built was to be his beloved home for ten years to come, and was a frequent inspiration in his rich visual world even after his return to Sweden. From this influential period in the artist’s life are among the early painting “Vattenbärerska Palm Parkway, San Salvador de Jujuy” and the depiction of the city square where a pink sports car just parked at the arcade, “Plaza Major, Jujuy”.

Everyday events such as the neighbor who curiously peeking over the hedge, the man who contemplates on the roof or the elderly lady who alone sees his surroundings behind black sunglasses are some of the expressive motifs that have come to be associated with the artist Bertram Schmiterlöw. The strong interest in man as an individual and the behavior of the group created almost a genre in Schmiterlöws artistry. People in the group depicted in several of auction of oil paintings such as “Sauna” 1965, “on view” and “Spaniards in the plaza.” In the same way, he captured masterfully the solitary individual’s strength and thinking through works like “The Woman in Altea,” where a lonely old lady has sat down on a chair somewhere in the Spanish town of Altea and with the proud gaze studying their surroundings behind the night black sunglasses. Schmiterlöw visited Spain on several occasions during his lifetime, a land of culture and environment reminded him a lot about Argentina but was geographically closer to his hometown of Stockholm.

One of the collection’s main work is “Via Condotti – Rome”, a monumental painting from Schmiterlöws later period that captivates the viewer through great detail. Throng of eager tourists and Romans have been captured from above, a perspective which depicts the size of the small man compared to the massive buildings of stone surrounding the boulevard. The light falls along the Via Condotti, but in the shadows along the facades going full activity.
 
The majority of the artworks were offered for sale was exhibited at Bertram Schmiterlöws major solo exhibition “From my two worlds” that took place at Prince Eugen Waldemarsudde winter 2000-2001. The auction features some of the artist’s main paintings and watercolors that have never before been out on the market. Bertram Schmiterlöw was awarded in 1974 the Vasa Order for his significant artistic achievements, and in 2002 Argentina’s highest award Orden Libertador San Martin.
 
The collection of artworks Schmiterlöws shown separately in Stockholm March 29 to April 3 in Uppsala Auction SCC premises at Nybrogatan 20 in Stockholm, and the auction takes place April 4 at. 10:00 in Uppsala.

Auction collection provides a fascinating insight into Bertram Schmiterlöws artistry and provides opportunities to acquire unique and prominent works with provenance directly from the artist.

Click here to see Tom Alandhs documentary Two brothers – two worlds of Bertram Schmiterlöw and his brother Chris (external link to SVT Open Archive).

The catalog will be published online 24 March.

For questions please contact:
Magnus Bexhed
0705-22 12 04
bexhed@uppsalaauktion.se