Johan Frederik Krouthén (Swedish, 1858-1932) Winter thaw, 1920 Oil on canvas 19-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (49.5 x 74.3 cm) Signed and dated lower left: Johan Krouthén / 1920 PROVENANCE: Private collection, California. Displaying artistic talent from a young age, in 1875 Johan Frederik Krouthén entered the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm at age 16, and he received rigorous training in academic painting, demanding technical precision in depicting classical forms. Yet, Krouthén was drawn to Realist landscapes (likely those of French artists such as Jean-François Millet), and began a career-long interest in depicting the rolling fields and small villages of Sweden's countryside. In 1883, after a brief period in Paris, Krouthén joined fellow Swedish Naturalist painter Oscar Björck at Skagen, an artist colony. The Skagen Painters, with their commitment to naturalism in their depictions of rural people, further inspired Krouthén when returning to his native Linköping (then a small city in southern Sweden). There his oeuvre expanded to portraits and domestic interiors, often painted with dramatic light and shadow, or other pictorial effects, enhancing the scene and illustrating the artist's move toward Idealism. With his later work, like Winter Thaw, Krouthén incorporated a more subtle, atmospheric palette, imbuing his landscapes with mood and feeling. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice