Axel Törneman

Axel Törneman

Axel Törneman photograph

Axel Törneman, in Nordisk familjebok
Born Johan Axel Gustaf Törneman
28 October 1880
Persberg, Värmland, Sweden
Died 26 December 1925 (aged 45)
Stockholm
Nationality Swedish
Education Värmland School of Art, Kunstakademie München,
Adolf Hölzel, Académie Julian
Known for Modern art, Painting; graphic design
Movement Modernism, Expressionism
Spouse(s) Gudrun Høyer-Ellefsen
Självporträtt med pipa (self-portrait with pipe), 1916

Johan Axel Gustaf Törneman (28 October 1880 – 26 December 1925) was one of Sweden's earliest modernist painters. Born in Persberg, Värmland, in Sweden, he grew to work in several modernist styles, was one of the first Swedish expressionist artists, and became a part of the international avant-garde in art after embracing more abstract art styles in Germany and France that were evolving there during the early 1900s. He created his most famous paintings, Night Café I and II, and Trait, in France in 1905. These night café paintings, made from studies in the Place Pigalle, and in other nightclubs popular with artists such as Café du Rat Mort (Dead Rat Café), are seen as two of Swedish modernism's most important works, and influenced by the German modernists more than by the French.

Törneman gained international stature in 1905 at the Salon d'Automne in Paris with Trait I, and with his Narragansett Café in 1906. He went to paint murals and decorations in public buildings such as the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Stockholm City Hall, and other Stockholm buildings such as Norra Latin, Ragnar Östberg's Östermalms läroverkl, and the second chamber in the Parliament House. Törneman's paintings were recognized with a gold medal at the U.S. Panama–Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco in 1915.

Axel Törneman died after only a further decade of life and creative work, at age 45, in Stockholm, after several hospitalizations, from gastrointestinal causes.

Early life

Johan Axel Gustaf Törneman was born on 28 October 1880 in Persberg, Värmland, in Sweden. He was the son of John Algot Törneman, an engineer at an explosives factory; his grandmother was the cookbook author Gustafva Bjorklund.[1](subscription required)

Education, travel, and early work

Törneman studied at Värmland School of Art in Göteborg in 1899 under Carl Wilhelmson, then toured the Nordic lands for a short while before traveling to study on the European continent in the years 1900–1905.[2] In Europe, he first studied at the Kunstakademie München (now the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München), then went to Dachau to study under Adolf Hölzel, and was later active in Paris for four years, and also in the village of Coudeville, Brittany.[1][2] In Munich he was influenced by the Art Nouveau movement and symbolism, Arnold Böcklin, Franz Stuck, and others.[2] During his time in Paris, Törneman's friends were able to locate him by following the sketches he left in Paris cafés.[1][3] In Paris he studied at the Académie Julian, and after seeing van Gogh's and Gauguin's work, he brightened his palette.[2]

Career in France and Sweden

In addition his many paintings on canvas, Törneman would go on, at various times in his career, to produce illustrations for commercial projects, as well as painting fresco and large scale murals in public spaces.[1][2] He grew to work in several modernist styles, was one of the first Swedish expressionist artists, and became a part of the international avant-garde in art after having embraced the then-new, more abstract art style in Germany and France during the early 1900s.[1][4][5]

Törneman's night café paintings, based on studies in Place Pigalle, and a Paris nightclub popular with artists, Café du Rat Mort (Dead Rat Café), are two of Swedish modernism's most important works, though critics say that Törneman was less influenced by the French modernists than by the Germans.[1] Three of these, his most famous paintings, Night Café I and II, and Trait, were painted by Törneman in 1905 while in France. Törneman gained international stature in that same year, in the Salon d'Automne in Paris, for Trait I,[1] and for Narragansett Café in 1906.[2]

Returning from the continent, he moved to Stockholm, to Katarinavägen, next door to the studio of main competitor and critic of his work, Isaac Grünewald.[2] His studio was in the same building as the sculptor and fellow Värmlander Christian Eriksson;[1] he did not, however, work with Eriksson's group at the Rackstad colony in Arvika.[1] Some of Törneman's contemporaries included Sigrid Hjertén (18851948), Gösta Von Hennigs (18661941) and Leander Engström (18861927).[6]

He married in 1908 (his son born the following year), and he traveled intermittently in relation to his art (e.g., in 1912, to Venice).[7]

Törneman also painted murals and decorations in public buildings such as the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm City Hall, other Stockholm buildings such as Norra Latin, Östermalms läroverk, Östra Real, and the second chamber of the Parliament House.[1][8] Törneman's began the ceiling mural De elektriska strömmarna (The electric currents) in 1918, in a lecture hall of the KTH.[9] This very ambitions painting project was a subject of much discussion, and when completed unanimously praised by critics, but disappeared from view until its rediscovery (see below).[9]

Törneman was recognized with a gold medal at the U.S. Panama–Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco in 1915.[10]

Towards the end of his life, Törneman largely abandoned his early dark palette, and instead worked almost entirely in the brighter colors from his Paris days.[1]

Personal life

Törneman married the Norwegian chanteuse Gudrun Høyer-Ellefsen, whom he had met in Paris during his time there, in 1908.[2] His son Algot Törneman, b. 1909, later became an artist in his own right. It has he who Törneman pictured in his 1921 painting Algot med teddybjörn (Algot with teddybear). Axel Törneman died in Stockholm at 45, after several hospitalizations, from gastrointestinal causes (assigned at the time as bleeding ulcers).[1]

Legacy

Törneman has been referred to as "[o]ne of the most important pioneers of Swedish art".[1] His letters, some sketchbooks, paintings, and some of his personal belongings are preserved in the Kungliga biblioteket ("Royal Library", the National Library of Sweden), in Stockholm.[11]

In 1965 the Moderna Museet, in Stockholm ("Modern Museum", a museum of modern art) held a major retrospective exhibition of his work, 40 years after his death.[2]

During the 1950s, the ceiling painting, De elektriska strömmarna disappeared, having been hidden behind a new ceiling during a renovation; with time, speculation arose that it had been destroyed during construction at its KTH site.[9] After nearly 40 years, and its being near forgotten, De elektriska was found during 1993 repairs to its original building, intact, though a ventilation duct had been installed through it.[9] The painting, still considered an important part of Swedish cultural heritage, was restored and moved—a thin layer of it was removed with great care and affixed a new support in its new location—work that took a year and cost five-times as much as commission for the original artwork; it re-opened to the public in its new location, in 1994.[9]

Selected works

  1. ^ Art in Kiruna. Accessed 2012-12-19. (in Swedish) (Google translate)

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Jonna Säll, 2011, "En av de viktigaste banbrytarna för svensk konst" [in Swedish; Engl., "One of the most important pioneers of Swedish art"], at Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (online magazine), June 18, 2011, see   via  (subscription required) and translate,  via  (subscription required) , accessed 21 April 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Hans Alexander Gerlanius, 2015, "Johan Axel Gustaf Törneman" (biographical entry), at Konstnärslexikonett Amanda (online) [biographical dictionary of Swedish/Nordic artists, in Swedish], see and translate, accessed 21 April 2015.
  3. Landi, Ann, Auto-Destructive Tendencies, "Whether by burning, cutting, shredding, or simply leaving them at the curb, artists have various reasons for disposing of their own work", ARTnews, artnews.com, 24 December 2012. Accessed 2013-1-10.
    See also, Livingston, Paisley, and Archer, Carol, Artistic Collaboration and the Completion of Works of Art, British Journal of Aesthetics, 50(4), October 2010, pp. 439455, Oxford University Press. Accessed 2013-1-10. doi:10.1093/aesthj/ayq029; and Unfinished creative work.
  4. Brinton, Christian, The Swedish art exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, 1916, p. 20. Accessed 2012-12-19.
  5. Röstorp, Vibeke, Les Artistes Suédois et Norvégiens en France de 1889 à 1908, Le Mythe du Retour (Swedish and Norwegian Artists in France from 1889 to 1908, The Myth of Return), PhD thesis, univ-paris4.fr, 2011, p. 7. Accessed 2012-12-19. (in French) (Google translate)
  6. Gösta von Hennigs, Spansk dans listing at auktionsverket.com, Lot number 665 accompanying text; and Leander Engström, Falken, regnbågen, Lot 690 accompanying text. Accessed 2013-1-11.
  7. Scenes from Venice (1912) was auctioned in December 2012 for 9,300 SEK. See , accessed 21 April 2015.
  8. Bonetto, Cristian, Stockholm: encounter, Lonely Planet Encounter Series, Lonely Planet, 2007, p. 41. ISBN 9781741792102.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Lindqvist, Svante, The Archeology of symbols at the Wayback Machine (archived March 28, 2010), Industriminne, Industrial Heritage Society, The Journal Nordic Museology, 2:2003, pp. 27–50 at pp. 35–41. Partial archive of the original via archive.org. Accessed 2012-12-19.
  10. Michael Williams, 1915, A brief guide to the Department of Fine Arts: Panama–Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915, San Francisco, CA: Wahlgreen, p. 61, see , accessed 21 April 2015.
  11. Törneman's collection, National Library of Sweden, accessed 2012-12-19.

Further reading

Exhibition catalogs

Other works

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Axel Törneman.