Frits Thaulow (Norwegian, 1847-1906)

Frits Thaulow visited the area near the Simoa River at Modum in the autumn and winter of 1883, where he excecuted several pastels of the area. He invited some younger naturalist painters to participate in a sort of open-air 'academy' there. Some of these painters, including Edward Munch, though he was not present in 1883, returned to the spot the following year.

This stay has recently been explored in an exhibition at the Stiftelsen Modums Blaafarveværk from May to September of 2013, and Vidar Poulsson wrote about the six views and their variants undertaken by Thaulow of the area around the Simoa River. The current view is subject number four in this text, and the artist made one oil and eight pastels of the same view. The current work is listed as number 4.4, and Poulsson suggested that it may have been painted for an exhibition in Stockholm in 1892.

The oil version now belongs to the National Museum of Oslo, acquired in 1933, and one of the pastels to the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, acquired in 1926.

We are grateful to Vidar Poulsson for confirming the authenticity of this lot and for providing the catalogue note.