This 1947 oil painting by Swedish artist Emil Olsson depicts a male sitter named Claude, often referred to by the artist as “the Frenchman”. Claude appears in several of Olsson’s portraits, suggesting a sustained personal or artistic relationship. Shown reading, the sitter is captured in a quiet, reflective moment, rendered with confident brushwork and a sensitive handling of tone.
Medium: Oil on panel
Unframed dimensions: 36 x 28 cm
Framed dimensions: 46.5 x 38.5 cm
Date: 1947
Signature: Signed and dated 1947. Titled and dated on label verso
Title: Flit, Claude Reads
Provenance: Hans Månsson’s collection
Condition: Condition comensurate with age, small hole to edge of painting above signature and water mark to frame.
Delivery and Packaging: National and international delivery is available. All works are carefully packed using environmentally friendly materials.
Emil Olsson (1890–1964) was a Swedish painter known for his portraits, interiors and still lifes. He studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, where he received a strong academic foundation before travelling in France and engaging with modern European figurative painting.
Olsson exhibited regularly in Sweden during his lifetime, including at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm. His work is represented in major Swedish public collections, notably the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, reflecting his recognised position within 20th-century Swedish art.
Working primarily within figurative modernism, Olsson maintained professional relationships with other Scandinavian artists active between Stockholm and Paris during the interwar period. His repeated portrayal of certain sitters, including Claude, suggests close personal or artistic connections that allowed for sustained and intimate portrait studies.
This 1947 oil painting by Swedish artist Emil Olsson depicts a male sitter named Claude, often referred to by the artist as “the Frenchman”. Claude appears in several of Olsson’s portraits, suggesting a sustained personal or artistic relationship. Shown reading, the sitter is captured in a quiet, reflective moment, rendered with confident brushwork and a sensitive handling of tone.
Medium: Oil on panel
Unframed dimensions: 36 x 28 cm
Framed dimensions: 46.5 x 38.5 cm
Date: 1947
Signature: Signed and dated 1947. Titled and dated on label verso
Title: Flit, Claude Reads
Provenance: Hans Månsson’s collection
Condition: Condition comensurate with age, small hole to edge of painting above signature and water mark to frame.
Delivery and Packaging: National and international delivery is available. All works are carefully packed using environmentally friendly materials.
Emil Olsson (1890–1964) was a Swedish painter known for his portraits, interiors and still lifes. He studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, where he received a strong academic foundation before travelling in France and engaging with modern European figurative painting.
Olsson exhibited regularly in Sweden during his lifetime, including at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm. His work is represented in major Swedish public collections, notably the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, reflecting his recognised position within 20th-century Swedish art.
Working primarily within figurative modernism, Olsson maintained professional relationships with other Scandinavian artists active between Stockholm and Paris during the interwar period. His repeated portrayal of certain sitters, including Claude, suggests close personal or artistic connections that allowed for sustained and intimate portrait studies.
