FERDINAND HERNLUND
1837 – 1902
SWEDISH LANDSCAPE AT DUSK
oil on paper, laid down on cardboard, 13.7 x 23 cm
date: 1883-1902
provenance:
the artist’s estate;
private collection, Sweden;
Pontus Wallberg, Stockholm, 2025.
exhibited:
Eksjö, Konstsalongen, Ferdinand Hernlund Minnesutställning, 1966.
The beauty of the sky above the landscape at sunset inspired Ferdinand Hernlund to create this oil sketch. The sky occupies approximately two-thirds of the composition, dominating the pictorial field. It is largely covered with dense cloud formations, some hanging notably low, through which red tones emerge in the distance. These warm hues create a striking contrast with the otherwise subdued and dark tonalities of the surrounding landscape. A small element rising above the horizon suggests a subtle human presence within the natural setting, reinforcing the relationship between landscape and human experience.
Swedish Landscape at Dusk emerged from the artistic exchange between Swedish and French artists in the late nineteenth century. Like many of his contemporaries, Ferdinand Hernlund traveled south to study art and engage with the latest developments. In France, he visited the artists’ colony of Barbizon, where painters such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corotand Théodore Rousseau worked directly from nature, often painting en plein air. The small format and loose, rapid brushwork of this oil sketch are well suited to such an approach, allowing for a direct and immediate response to the landscape.
Ferdinand Hernlund was a Swedish landscape painter who trained in Stockholm under Per Daniel Holm before continuing his studies in Germany, where he worked in Düsseldorf (1864–1865) and Karlsruhe (1865–1866), engaging with the landscape tradition of the Düsseldorf School. He later settled in Stockholm as a painter and illustrator, exhibiting landscapes of Småland and Östergötland. Further study trips took him to Munich (1874–1875) and to France in 1883, where he encountered the Barbizon school. Hernlund became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in 1887 and worked in Linköping between 1888 and 1898 before returning to Stockholm. His work is characterized by atmospheric landscape studies and reflects the exchange between Scandinavian and continental European painting in the late nineteenth century.