Olof Thunman (1879–1944) - Evening Mood, View Over Graneberg, 1924

Olof Thunman (1879–1944) Sweden
Evening Mood, View Over Graneberg, 1924

oil on canvas
unframed 60 × 100 cm (23.6 × 39.4 in)
framed 62.5 × 102.5 cm (24.6 × 40.4 in)
signed and dated 1924

Provenance:
Gustav Emanuel Egrell (b. Uppsala 1884–1965)

In Evening Mood, View Over Graneberg (original Swedish title Aftonstämning, Graneberg, Uppland), painted in 1924, Olof Thunman presents an afternoon scene in the countryside outside Uppsala. The composition is panoramic and serene: calm water lies before us, its surface softly mirroring the last light of day. The view is directed toward the hamlet of Graneberg, though the setting sun itself is out of frame behind the viewer. Instead, a warm golden luminance suffuses the landscape, bathing the trees, fields, and water in a gentle glow. Thunman’s handling of light is poetic, the foreground is aglow with amber tones, while the distant treeline and horizon gradually dissolve into the bluish-grey haze of approaching evening. This subtle gradation of light and color conveys a hushed, contemplative mood, perfectly capturing the “aftonstämning” or evening atmosphere of the scene.

Evening Mood, View Over Graneberg exemplifies Olof Thunman’s contemplative and lyrical approach to landscape painting. Throughout his career, Thunman devoted himself to scenes of his native province Uppland (the region around Uppsala), and this canvas is a quintessential expression of that devotion. The painting’s gentle atmosphere and emphasis on the glow of dusk speak to the artist’s broader aim of conveying nature’s quiet poetry. Notably, the very title highlights mood as the subject, Evening Mood, indicating Thunman’s intent to capture not just a place, but the emotional tone of a time of day. In the context of Thunman’s overall output, such works are central: he frequently depicted dawns, dusks, and other moments of subtle light, seeking to distill the spiritual and lyrical essence of the Swedish landscape. Each Thunman landscape, and Evening Mood in particular, can be seen as a visual poem of place and time, where faithful observation of nature is elevated by a profound sensitivity to atmosphere.

The Artist
Olof Thunman (1879–1944) was a Swedish artist and poet whose dual talents reinforced one another. Born and raised in Uppsala, he trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm (1902–1906) and emerged in the circle of young national romantic painters in the early 20th century. Unlike some contemporaries who pursued public fame, Thunman led a quiet, scholarly life; remarkably, he held his first solo exhibition only in 1942, at the age of 63, at Upplands nation in Uppsala. For decades prior, he painted and drew primarily for the joy of it, often cycling or walking through the Uppland countryside to sketch local motifs. His favorite subjects were the lakes, forests, and historical farms around Uppsala – scenes of Uppland that he rendered with affection and an acute sense of place. Stylistically, Thunman’s early oil paintings (such as this 1924 canvas) are painted in an impressionistic yet restrained manner, often imbued with twilight tones and a mellow lyricism. In later years he increasingly turned to detailed ink wash drawings and illustrations, but the contemplative mood remained a constant. Parallel to his visual art, Thunman was an accomplished man of letters: he published several collections of poetry and is remembered as the author of the much-loved Swedish poem “Vi gå över daggstänkta berg” (“We Walk Over Dewy Mountains”), a celebration of nature that has become a popular song. The contemplative, lyrical tone that characterizes Thunman’s paintings is very much in harmony with his literary work. Both his imagery and his verse reflect a deep reverence for the Swedish landscape and a desire to capture its transient beauties and underlying spirit. In Thunman’s work, art and poetry merge into a singular, quietly resonant vision of nature, a vision eloquently embodied by Evening Mood, View Over Graneberg, where the fading light and still waters invite the viewer into a moment of peaceful reflection that feels almost akin to reading a gentle evening poem.

Condition: The painting is in very good condition, with clear, vibrant colors and only minor age-appropriate surface wear.