Information

Artist: Mauritz Alexander Roos-Rosén
Medium: Oil on Panel 
Dimensions: 36.5 x 45 cm
Dimensions (Framed): 45.5 x 54.5 cm
Date: c.1920 - 1950
Condition Report: Excellent

Description

A tranquil blue lake stretches across the composition, bordered by expressive brushwork that evokes reeds, undergrowth, and dense woodland in late seasonal transition. 

Painted with the directness and instinctive structure associated with the Smedsudden circle in Stockholm, the work carries the warmth and immediacy that became central to Roos-Rosén’s mature style developed during his later years exploring the landscapes of Roslagen and the Swedish countryside. 

Biography

Mauritz Alexander Roos-Rosén (1895–1973) was a Swedish painter whose career developed at the intersection of craft tradition and modern artistic expression. Born in Övergrans parish in Uppsala County, he initially trained as a decorative painter and worked extensively on church interiors. This early profession made him a native to colour harmonies, surface treatment, and spatial composition, foundations that would later shape his easel painting.

Roos-Rosén’s artistic trajectory shifted decisively when he became associated with the circle of artists around Smedsudden on Kungsholmen in Stockholm. This informal group encouraged a more personal and expressive approach to painting, moving him away from applied decoration toward independent artistic practice. He pursued private study and travelled widely in France, Italy, and Germany, where he absorbed elements of European modernism while retaining a distinctly direct and unacademic visual style. He held his first solo exhibition in 1919 and a second in 1929, and by 1925 he had fully left his church decorating work behind.

His 1929 exhibition positioned him among the first generation of Swedish naïvist painters, alongside figures such as Hilding Linnqvist, Gideon Börje, and Eric Hallström. Roos-Rosén became particularly known for affectionate depictions of Stockholm’s working-class districts in the 1920s such as Gröndal, Hagalund, and Sundbyberg which he rendered with warmth, strong colour, and an instinctive sense of composition that transformed ordinary urban scenes into vivid visual narratives.

From the 1940s onward, his palette grew richer and his subject matter expanded. The Roslagen archipelago became a major source of inspiration, alongside still lifes, floral studies, and scenes from his European travels, which he continued into later life.

His works are held in several Swedish institutions, including the Stockholm City Museum and Östergötland Museum.