August Strindberg

Biography

August Strindberg, one of Sweden's most important writers, was also a painter. He never received formal art training and painted periodically throughout his life. Strindberg started to paint in the 1870s and later became part of the artists' colony in Grez-sur-Loing. He then took a break until the 1890s, followed by an intense period of painting in which he became increasingly abstract. In retrospect, he has been regarded as a pioneering figure in modernism and abstract art. Strindberg's art is characterized by improvisation. During his travels in the late 1890s, he drew inspiration from the works of both Gustave Courbet and William Turner. Strindberg applied the paint directly to the canvas with a palette knife in broad strokes. His motifs are often desolate and dramatic landscapes, or the sea in stormy weather with turbulent waves. The Thiel collection contains three paintings by Strindberg.

Daughter: Kerstin Strindberg (1894 - 1956)