Dramatic compositions and motifs in strong colors characterize the artistry of Värmlandssonen Axel Törneman (1880–1925). At the time of his debut, his painting was filled with the zeitgeist of the turn of the century and was considered to represent a new decade. At the same time, he remained a bohemian, an outsider whose travels outside the aesthetic framework are largely forgotten today.
Nattcafé II, 1906 av Axel Törneman. Målningen tillhör Thielska galleriet.
Axel Törneman’s artistic breakthrough took place in Paris, where he was early drawn into bohemian life. His first international success was the painting Bretagnare , which was admired and despised at the Autumn Salon in Paris in 1905. In Sweden, he is best remembered for the colorful painting Nattcafé. The subject’s electric light and people’s absinthe-veiled gazes were associated with both modernity and decadence. Törneman became a portal figure for Swedish modernism and received his first recognition at home when the art collector Ernest Thiel bought Nattcafé in 1907.
