Sofa, 220 cm wide · Outline only: the photo can’t be cut out to scale.
Vilhelm Bjerke-petersen
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1,750 DKK in original currency · Hammer price — the house doesn't publish bid history.
Tupendan Est.
463 – 2,405SEK
Median 907 SEK for this lot, based on 34 semantically similar sold lots in the same category. Adjusted for quantity and condition (empirical factors from 31,000+ same-model sales). The range is the 25th–75th percentile.
Sold for 2,639 SEK — +191 % vs. the Tupendan estimate of 907 SEK.
Condition
Examined in frame. Damp discolourations.
Read automatically from the house's condition description.
Surrealist composition. Signed Vilh. Bjerke Petersen-50, 3/22. Lithograph. Visible size 34 × 42 cm. Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen (1909–1957) was a central figure in Danish and Nordic modernism, and his artistic practice spanned both abstract and figurative surrealism. Bjerke-Petersen had a strong theoretical and philosophical foundation for his art, inspired by surrealism's ideals and psychoanalysis, particularly Freud's dream interpretation. This inspiration is evident in his surrealist works, where symbols such as stones, trees and floating figures recur and are used as images of humanity's connection with nature and the unconscious. These motifs are also found in his graphic works, where they are transferred to the lines and forms of the lithographs. Bjerke-Petersen was not only concerned with surrealism's figurative expression, but also with abstraction, which is apparent in the way his art evolved over time. A distinctive phase in Bjerke-Petersen's artistic development can be seen in these lithographs, which he printed himself at his school, Moderna Konstskolan in Stockholm. These lithographs were produced in small editions and published by the artist himself, which makes them rare and valuable in both an artistic and historical context. The limited production of lithographs at Moderna Konstskolan demonstrates an intense focus on craftsmanship and artistic expression. These prints reflect Bjerke-Petersen's attempt to fuse surrealism's symbolic world with the abstract formal world he had begun to return to after the war. The prints are also characteristic of the direction he took in the 1950s, when he founded his school and published the book “Konkret Konst” in 1956, concluding that concrete art is the most direct path to art's essence. Bjerke-Petersen's graphic works, particularly his lithographs, stand as important examples of how art can function as a tool for exploring humanity's inner landscapes. Through his experiments with surrealism's figures and abstraction's pure forms, his work remains a central part of twentieth-century art history in Denmark and Scandinavia. This lot is subject to Artist's Royalty . Artist’s Royalty In accordance with Danish copyright law, an additional royalty fee is to be paid for the purchase of works by contemporary Danish artist and some international artists who are either still alive, or who died within the last 70 years. Read more ×