| Abstrakt: |
In 1938, the Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation acquired five paintings which seem a curious choice of acquisition in light of the collection’s composition during Gösta Serlachius’ era (1876–1942). The five oil paintings are by the French artists Maurice Brianchon (1899–1979) and Roland Oudot (1897–1981) and all date from around 1938. The article examines how and why these paintings came into the Foundation’s possession, while also taking a closer look at these two intriguing French artists who are lesser-known to contemporary audiences. Brianchon and Oudot were associated with a group called ‘Les peintres de la réalité poétique’, which was formed – as a somewhat artificial afterthought – in 1947. Both Brianchon and Oudot broadly followed in the wake of the Post-Impressionistic movement which continued into the 1950s and 1960s and was spearheaded by artists such as Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947), Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954). This was a key movement in French art, but it has largely been overshadowed by avant-garde trends of the day. The article thus addresses the issue of how the dominant narrative of modernism has tended to cast a long shadow over the writing of art history. It was in fact Gösta Serlachius himself who purchased the paintings while visiting Paris. This somewhat surprising move may have been influenced by an exhibition of similar artists that had recently featured at Leonard Bäcksbacka’s Helsinki gallery, Konstsalongen. It is also conceivable that Serlachius contacted the artists directly through Bäcksbacka’s trusted associates in Paris at that time, the artists Birger Carlstedt, Yngve Bäck, Marcus Collin and Irina Bäcksbacka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
