Description:

authenticated on the reverse by the artist’s wife: Att denna skizz är målad på Skagen år 1883 av Oscar Björck intygas härmed / Isaria Björck [I hereby authorize that this sketch is painted at Skagen in 1883]
oil on canvas laid on board
354 x 350 mm

Provenance:

(Perhaps) Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Oscar Björck. Minnesutställning, 4-26 januari 1930, under 1883, no. 14 or 15 both equally described as ”Studie från Skagens sydstrand” (Study from the Skagen’s South Beach) (both lent by Mrs. I. Björck)

Note:

This fluidly painted study is connected to Björck’s monumental picture Launching the boat (160 x 194.5 cm.) painted at Skagen during the summer 1884 and exhibited at Charlottenborg in 1886 (Skagens Museum). Launching the Boat is Björck’s largest known painting from Skagen. Generally considered to have been painted in the open air, the discovery of the present study shows that it was in fact painted in Björck’s studio in Skagen. The study sums up the key element of the picture; the force of the foaming waves and the resilience of the surf hitting the bow of the boat.