Ryno Frieberg: Six decades as an artist

For more than half a century, Ryno Frieberg (1920–2018) was Sweden’s foremost painter of floral still lifes. Through his artistic career, he carried forward the tradition established by artists such as Olle Hjortzberg and Esther Kjerner. The collection of oil paintings by Ryno Frieberg now being offered spans six decades and provides a rich insight into an artistic career shaped by its creator’s deep love for his chosen subject matter.

When Ryno Frieberg made his debut with a solo exhibition at Gummesons in Stockholm in 1943, he was met with immediate and total success. In his annual chronicle in Ord och Bild, the art historian and museum director Folke Holmér called him „the sensational debutant of the season“ and continued: „At Gummesons konsthall, crowds gathered daily throughout October in front of Frieberg’s canvases, which were snapped up by collectors as quickly as snow melts in the sun. Perhaps what most captivated viewers was the humility and warmth found in these still lifes of pipes and other small objects. But Frieberg had surprisingly much more to offer. There were portraits with real intensity in their depiction of the human being, alongside landscapes and genre scenes.“ Among the many buyers at the exhibition was Nationalmuseum, which acquired the painting „Fåglarna på skåpet“ („The Birds on the Cabinet,“ now held in the collections of Moderna Museet).

Following his hugely successful debut, Ryno Frieberg became the subject of fairly intense debate. His artistic style, which at the time was firmly rooted in the twilight romanticism and intimism of the 1890s, did not appeal to all art critics. Nils Palmgren defended Frieberg’s seemingly outdated painting style in an article in Aftonbladet in 1948, writing: „That he does not yield to fashionable trends or intellectual fireworks in no way proves that he is not a true painter. Indeed, one would have to be quite blind not to see the seriousness and the struggle for one’s own artistic path behind Frieberg’s quiet and graceful landscapes, with their fine, youthful fragrance.“

Although Ryno Frieberg had already painted a fair number of floral still lifes in the 1940s, these works – with their distinctly minor-key tone and restrained character – were fundamentally different from the floral abundance that would later become his signature style. During the 1950s, one can observe a transformation in his painting from minor to major key, so to speak. It is during this period that the artist also begins depicting blossoming fruit trees, works that bring to mind Carl Fredrik Hill.

Throughout his career, Ryno Frieberg’s artistry shows a gradual development toward an increasingly detailed and naturalistic depiction of the beauty of flowers. For those fortunate enough to get to know the artist personally, it became clear that what he so convincingly portrayed in his floral still lifes was nothing less than genuine infatuation. Ryno Frieberg’s love for flowers spurred him to continually refine his depiction of them, in a constant effort to convey this sense of enchantment to the viewer.

Ryno Frieberg: Six decades as an artist

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