BRUNO LILJEFORS. On my way home from the fox hunt.

Oil on canvas, 70 x 105 cm. Signed Bruno Liljefors and dated -91.

PROVENANCE
In the current family's possession since about 1930.

LITERATURE
Compare with probable model in watercolour, Stockholms Auktionsverk Klassiska, 2003-06-04, no 2228.

The great naturalist and animal painter Bruno Liljefors had a great admiration for animals and their way of life and conditions. His great interest was born during his youth wandering through forest and land, where he also developed into a passionate hunter. He thoroughly immersed himself in the behavior and movement patterns of animals, which came to be reflected in his depictions, where animals and nature are experienced in their realism and distinctiveness.

As in the works of the auction, the predator in his subject could sometimes be represented in the form of the human hunter, who, with as keen attention as that of the animal, sharpens his senses to catch a game or who stridently adapts his movement to the natural conditions of the land and terrain. The pursuit and struggle for existence is thus a common thread through Liljefors's evocative depictions.

As a hunter, Liljefors was meticulous in his own practice, and thus became a master in tracking a hare and in cooperating with the hunting dog. He dressed according to the environment, and understood the importance of clothing and nature harmonizing in color and pattern with the surroundings.

The present catalogue number is painted after Liljefor's return from Grèz-sur-Loing, during a time when he longed to revisit the distinctive character of Nordic nature and when his depictions of nature show elevated qualities in dense and lyrical moods. We meet a winter landscape in twilight light. A hunter in a hat and a kind of battle-lock rifle on his shoulder roams in thick snow across a moor with two dogs ahead of him on loosely hanging leashes. On the bag rests a shot fox with its magnificent tail shining against its coat. The hunt is over and the company is on their way home, immersed in thoughts in the atmospheric blustery evening.

For further information and condition report, please contact cecilia.berggren@auktionsverket.com.