artist: Ragnvald Magnusson (Swedish 1904-1984)
medium: oil on canvas
dimensions: 61 x 53 cm
signed
circa 1940s/50s
presented in a new hand finished teak stained timber frame
AU $1550 (approx US $950 / 820 EUROS / 150,000 yen / 705 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist biography
Ragnvald Enar Magnusson was born on 26 September 1904 in Gothenburg. He was a Swedish artist.
Magnusson studied at the Valands målarskola (Valand School of Painting) in Gothenburg from 1925 to 1928 and undertook study trips to France in 1931-32, Spain in 1934, and Norway in 1935. In 1933 he was awarded the Carl Larsson Scholarship.
Magnusson held solo exhibitions in Stockholm at Färg och Form in 1933 and at Modern konst i hemmiljö (Modern Art in the Home) in 1942 and 1946. In Gothenburg he exhibited at God Konst (Good Art) in 1941, at the Gothenburg Art Gallery together with Olle Petterson in 1945, and at Lorensberg Art Salon in 1958. He also exhibited in Norrköping in 1942, Malmö in 1943, Gävle in 1945, Borås in 1955, and Lidköping in 1957. Among the large number of group exhibitions in which Magnusson participated were exhibitions of Gothenburg painting at the Turku Art Museum in Finland in 1950, at Liljevalchs Art Gallery in Stockholm in 1947, and at the Exhibition Hall in Gothenburg in 1952. He also took part in exhibitions organised by the Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening (Swedish General Art Association) and the National Association for Art Education, as well as exhibitions in Helsinki in 1939 and Copenhagen.
Magnusson received his artistic education at Valand under Tor Bjurström and was part of the Gothenburg Colourist movement that developed there. In his work this tendency most often acquired a more idyllic accent, whilst still maintaining its vigour. One of the foundations of his painting was the art of Pierre Bonnard, yet Magnusson's work has a distinctly Nordic character, and particularly in its earlier phases its connection with Gösta Sandels and with Norwegian expressionism of the 1930s is unmistakable. He is best known for his landscape paintings, but also painted figurative and still life works.
Magnusson was a member of the Gothenburg Artists' Club, the Swedish Artists' Association, and the National Organization of Artists. Examples of his work are held in the collections of the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, in the Gothenburg Art Museum, Malmö Art Museum, Gävle Art Museum and Borås Art Museum.
Magnusson passed away in Gothenburg at the age of 80 on December 1, 1984.