Description:

Thorvald Hellesen
Norway / France, (1888-1987)
Composition, circa 1920s
oil on canvas
signed on a plaque on the reverse
gilt-framed.

Fragments of an exhibition label on the reverse

Hellesen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo) Norway and began his art studies at The Oslo National Academy of Arts. From a prominent family, his father was a barrister at the Supreme Court and his mother was the daughter of Norwegian prime minister Christian Selmer. In 1912, at the age of 23, Hellesen received a scholarship to study art in Paris at the Atelier Leger. He remained in Paris for the rest of his life. His work was heavily influenced by by his friends and contemporaries in the Paris art scene, Leger, Bracque, Brancusi, and Picasso. In his short career, he experimented with many forms of cubism but his work is most often associated with Orphic Cubism. His paintings were exhibited alongside works by Leger, and it was noted during these shows that his style brought a Nordic sensibility to the Cubist paintings being exhibited. In 1919, Hellesen returned to Oslo, his hometown, to participate in an exhibition titled "Leger and the Modern Spirit" for which he designed the invitation. Today, Hellesen is known as Norway's "First Cubist Painter." This painting is not dated, but is likely from the early 1920s. During this period, Hellesen's work is notable for its absence of volume and shadow, and use of a pastel palette.

  • Dimensions: 58 x 58 inches
  • Medium: oil on canvas
  • Condition: The painting has been strip lined (just around the stretcher edges), but not fully lined. Under u.v. light, there is some inpaint primarily in the white sections. In general, this painting is thick and appears to have been a process by the artist of perfecting the composition over time. In natural light, there is some cracking, heaviest in the white areas, and also in the brown at the edges. The paint appears to be stable. Stretcher lines are visible.

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December 7, 2024 10:00 AM CST
St. Louis, MO, US

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