The girl frequently recurs in Lena Cronqvist’s work and serves as a vessel for questions of identity, vulnerability, and human relationships. In her sculptures, the child is not idealised or sentimentalised; instead, we encounter a figure that stands firmly in space, with a direct presence. Cronqvist was long primarily known as a painter, but from the 1990s onwards sculpture became an increasingly important medium in her practice. In three-dimensional form, the figures gain a physical presence that intensifies their expression. They often stand alone, without any narrative environment surrounding them, meeting the viewer directly in space. The body’s posture, weight, and balance thus become crucial to how the figure is perceived.

In „Flicka med flätor och parasoll“, a young female figure stands firmly positioned on her plinth, holding an open parasol raised above her head. The parasol’s broad, circular shape spreads out like a protective canopy over the figure, creating a distinct silhouette. Her hands grip the shaft in front of her body, and her gaze is directed straight ahead. The posture is simple and composed, yet within this stillness a strong presence emerges. The figure stands as if she has just paused—sheltered beneath the parasol, yet fully visible to the viewer.

The surface of the bronze is lively and uneven, with clear traces of Lena Cronqvist’s fingerprints in the material. Light is caught in the small variations across the surface, giving it a tactile quality. This is typical of Cronqvist’s sculptures: they do not strive for perfect form, but instead convey a sense of the hand’s work and the corporeality of the figure. The result is figures that feel both robust and vulnerable. The girl’s braids jut out to the sides, reinforcing the impression of a young body, while the expression of the face remains composed, concentrated, and reflective.

Cronqvist was born in 1938 in Karlstad and studied at Konstfack and later at the Royal Institute of Art. She achieved her breakthrough in the 1960s with paintings that attracted considerable attention for their personal treatment of subjects such as family life, motherhood, and the human body. In the decades that followed, Cronqvist developed an artistic practice in which self-portraits, child figures, and human relationships recur in various forms.

Today, Cronqvist is regarded as one of the most significant artists of her generation in Sweden. Her work is represented in collections such as Moderna Museet, Gothenburg Museum of Art, and Malmö Art Museum. Her sculptures also meet the public in outdoor settings, including near Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Stockholm, as well as in various public spaces in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

In „Flicka med flätor och parasoll“, several of the qualities that make Cronqvist’s sculptures so distinctive come together. The figure is small and still, yet it stands with an undeniable weight. The parasol opens above her almost like a sky of its own, and together body and form create a sculpture that feels both simple and vividly present.

Estimate: 1 000 000 – 1 200 000 SEK

Viewing: May 8–20, Nybrogatan 32, Stockholm
Live auction: May 21

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