On December 9, the second day of Bukowskis' Important Winter Sale, works of art by masters such as Helene Schjerfbeck, Eugène Jansson, Carl Fredrik Hill and Carl Larsson were presented in the auction room. But the big star of the auction was Anders Zorn and his oil painting Sunday Morning from 1891.
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In the summer of 1891, Anders Zorn stayed in Mora, Sweden for an extended time, which resulted in a very creative period for the artist and several of his finest paintings were created then, including this interior titled Sunday Morning. The work depicts three girls who are in different stages of getting ready in the morning. It is a childhood memory that Zorn reproduces in the painting, as during his childhood, the rooms in the cottages were small and people got ready in common areas. His childhood played a major role in his art and much of his production was intended as a tribute to the past.
“Sunday Morning is one of the finest oil paintings by Anders Zorn in private ownership," said Pontus Silfverstolpe, founder of Barnebys. "A masterpiece by Sweden’s most internationally renowned artist together with Alexander Roslin. The painting depicts one of Zorn’s most important artistic periods and the Swedish national romanticism at the end of the 19th century."
Sunday Morning had an impressive estimate of 12-15 million Swedish kronor ($1.3-1.6 million), but was sold for more than double. After an eight-minute bidding war, the painting was hammered for an astonishing SEK 35.2 million ($3.9 million). This means a new auction record for the Swedish painter, but also a new world record for a Swedish work of art sold at auction.
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"It was a sensational sale as well as a new world record for a Swedish work of art on the auction market," said Louise Arén, the CEO of Bukowskis. "An exciting bidding and a historic sale to be a part of for all of us here at Bukowskis."
Previous records for the world's most expensive Swedish works of art sold at auction were also set by Anders Zorn. Sommarnöje from 1886 was sold at Stockholms Auktionsverk 2010 for SEK 26,000,000 (approx. $3.3 million).