artist: Axel Birkholm (Danish/Swedish 1909-1984)
medium: colour woodcut
dimensions: 62 x 35 cm frame (approx)
limited edition 28/75
signed
circa 1957
presented in its original frame
AU $685 (approx US $4445 / 385 EUROS / 67,500 yen / 335 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist biography
Axel Birkholm was born in 1909 in Thisted,Denmark. He was a Danish/Swedish painter and print maker.
Birkholm studied originally in his native Denmark under Folmer Bonnén in Copenhagen. He then studied in Sweden at the Skåne Painting School in Malmö, and with Edvin Ollers in Stockholm. He took private study trips to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the West Indies.
Birkholm participated in numerous group exhibitions, mainly in towns across northern Sweden, and also held several solo shows — including at Thurestam’s Art Salon in Stockholm (1945), Gothenburg (1946), Sollefteå (1947), Umeå (with Sören Olsson, 1948), and Sundsvall (1949).
He painted northern Swedish mood landscapes, characterised by their play of colouristic contrasts within a subdued yet richly toned palette. Birkholm also produced figure studies, painted rather loosely in pale grey hues (such as After the Bath and The Shy One). A more solid structure appears in his motifs of sheltered harbours and quays, often distinguished by a refined handling of light (for instance, Misty, The Schooner Ambre, and Hovenäset).
Based in Stockholm, he also painted gentle cityscapes, including Riddarholmen. His figure drawings reveal at times a sense of sculptural volume, recalling that he began his artistic training with sculpture studies. He produced print editions, mainly stylised colour woodcut prints.
Examples of Birkholm’s work are held in the collection of the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art) in Stockholm. Click HERE to view some examples.
He passed away at the age in 75 in Thisted on September 24, 1984.