Herman Österlund - Ocean View from the West Coast, 1916

Herman Österlund (1873-1964) Sweden

Ocean View from the West Coast, 1916

oil on canvas
signed and dated Herman Österlund 1916
canvas dimensions 14.37 x 16.73 inches (36.5 x 42.5 cm)
frame 18.30 x 20.86 inches (46.5 x 53 cm)

Provenance: 
A Swedish private collection

Herman Österlund was a Swedish artist best known for his beautiful depictions of the west coast of Sweden. 
He moved to Stockholm in 1896 and passed the test for entering the Royal Academy; during this time, he shared a studio with Otto Hesselbom in Stockholm, and they became good friends. 
After three years of studies, he was ready to move back to the west coast; first, he moved to Löberöd in Skåne, where he lived until 1905, but he made several trips abroad together with, among others, Karl Isakson to Italy, Paris and Spain. 
Österlund moved to Malmö in 1909 and, from 1913, rented a summer studio in Kämpinge and later in Arild. 
Our painting "Ocean View from the West Coast" is most likely from the area around Kämpinge. 
What we see is a calm ocean view, painted with a light palette, and it gives almost an abstract presence, not too much and not too little - that's one of the most challenging tasks for an artist - and he did it with such brilliance.