Carl Fredrik Hill
Encyclopedia
Carl Fredrik Hill was a Swedish
painter
.
in southern Sweden
and had to strike out his career as a landscape painter against his father’s resistance. After studying at the Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts, he went to France. In the summer of 1874 Carl Fredrik Hill travelled to the village of Barbizon
south of Paris, a Mecca for artists worldwide. Both the Barbizon School
and Camille Corot had a decisive influence on him.
Hill wrote: “I have become convinced that art has no other goal than truth, le vrai. Not the tritely naturalistic, but the true heart." He sought his subjects at different sites in France, Monitigny, Champagne
and Normandy
. "Ambition drives me to overexert myself and gives myself no peace" he said. Yet, Hill’s endeavors were not crowned with official success; his works were rejected when he presented them at the Paris Salons. When he had a severe psychotic attack and was hospitalized at the age of 28, his career as a landscape painter came to an untimely end. He was diagnosed with hallucinations and paranoia
. Friends helped him get home to Sweden where he gained sanctuary at home after a short period in the St Lars mental hospital in Lund. There he was cared for by his mother and a sister for 28 years until his death in 1911. In the Lund Register of Deaths in 1911, he is listed as a "former landscape painter".
calls it “the second great period of his life as a painter”. His artistry continued unabated; during these years he drew four drawings a day.
The motifs for Hill's drawings in this period came from imagination and memory as well as from older art and illustrations. To Carl Fredrik Hill drawing was a way to take control of the new world which had now succeeded the old one. On the paper he created a world of his own. Drawing became a way to distract the evil forces that surrounded him constantly. He defended himself, using a pencil as his weapon. "The prince of whispers ... where the world glows in a blood-red struggle" writes Gunnar Ekelöf
in a poem to Hill.
Carl Fredrik Hill produced thousands of drawings in various techniques: crayon
, pencil
, ink
, India ink
and watercolour. Many have been lost. Some 3.500 drawings are still thought to exist, of which more than 2.000 are part of the collections of the Malmö Art Museum, as are 23 of his oil paintings. Hill's varied subjects and styles over this period seem to have anticipated many modern movements and artists unknown to him, Henri Matisse
and Pablo Picasso
among them. The largeest collection of all was donated to the Malmö Art Museum by Hill's heirs and have been increased with important gifts from private collections.
Carl Fredrik Hill’s drawings were discovered and admired by artists mainly. Thanks to the Swedish collector Rolf de Maré
, Hill’s work become known in connection with the French avant-garde
of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1949, a hundred years after Hill's birth, a travelling exhibition was shown in London, Luzern, Basel, Geneva and Hamburg. The exhibition was a success and in 1952 the Tessin Institute in Paris published a book about Hill with an introduction by Jacques Lassaigne. Since then several works about Hill have appeared in Sweden, and Hill exhibitions succeed one another both in Sweden and abroad. Hill is now reckoned as one of Sweden's best landscape painters, and the drawings done dúring the time he was ill in Lund have made him known outside Sweden as well.
Today his drawings continue to be a source of inspiration for both Swedish and international artists such as Arnulf Rainer
, Günter Brus, Georg Baselitz
, Per Kirkeby
, Torsten Andersson
, Ola Billgren, or Donald Baechler
.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Early life and training
Born the son of a mathematics professor, Hill grew up in the narrowness of the university town of LundLund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
in southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and had to strike out his career as a landscape painter against his father’s resistance. After studying at the Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts, he went to France. In the summer of 1874 Carl Fredrik Hill travelled to the village of Barbizon
Barbizon
Barbizon is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest.-Art history:The Barbizon school of painters is named after the village; Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet, leaders of the school, made their homes and died in the...
south of Paris, a Mecca for artists worldwide. Both the Barbizon School
Barbizon school
The Barbizon school of painters were part of a movement towards realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870...
and Camille Corot had a decisive influence on him.
Striving for the success
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
and Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. "Ambition drives me to overexert myself and gives myself no peace" he said. Yet, Hill’s endeavors were not crowned with official success; his works were rejected when he presented them at the Paris Salons. When he had a severe psychotic attack and was hospitalized at the age of 28, his career as a landscape painter came to an untimely end. He was diagnosed with hallucinations and paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
. Friends helped him get home to Sweden where he gained sanctuary at home after a short period in the St Lars mental hospital in Lund. There he was cared for by his mother and a sister for 28 years until his death in 1911. In the Lund Register of Deaths in 1911, he is listed as a "former landscape painter".
The second great period
During the 28 years before his death Hill's creative work entered a new phase. As the Swedish art historian Ragnar JosephsonRagnar Josephson
Ragnar Josephson was a Swedish art historian and writer.Josephson was professor of art history at Lund University 1929-1957 and founder of the Archive for Decorative Art there...
calls it “the second great period of his life as a painter”. His artistry continued unabated; during these years he drew four drawings a day.
The motifs for Hill's drawings in this period came from imagination and memory as well as from older art and illustrations. To Carl Fredrik Hill drawing was a way to take control of the new world which had now succeeded the old one. On the paper he created a world of his own. Drawing became a way to distract the evil forces that surrounded him constantly. He defended himself, using a pencil as his weapon. "The prince of whispers ... where the world glows in a blood-red struggle" writes Gunnar Ekelöf
Gunnar Ekelöf
Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958...
in a poem to Hill.
"Hill connu?" - Is Hill known?
That is what the artist wrote across a stormy sky in one of the drawings from the time of his illness in Lund. Hill never lived to see his recognition as an artist.Carl Fredrik Hill produced thousands of drawings in various techniques: crayon
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
, pencil
Pencil
A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....
, ink
Ink
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
, India ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...
and watercolour. Many have been lost. Some 3.500 drawings are still thought to exist, of which more than 2.000 are part of the collections of the Malmö Art Museum, as are 23 of his oil paintings. Hill's varied subjects and styles over this period seem to have anticipated many modern movements and artists unknown to him, Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
and Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
among them. The largeest collection of all was donated to the Malmö Art Museum by Hill's heirs and have been increased with important gifts from private collections.
Carl Fredrik Hill’s drawings were discovered and admired by artists mainly. Thanks to the Swedish collector Rolf de Maré
Rolf de Maré
Rolf de Maré , sometimes called Rolf de Mare, was a Swedish art collector and leader of the Ballets Suédois in Paris in 1920–1925. In 1933 he founded the world's first museum for dance in Paris.-Biography :...
, Hill’s work become known in connection with the French avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1949, a hundred years after Hill's birth, a travelling exhibition was shown in London, Luzern, Basel, Geneva and Hamburg. The exhibition was a success and in 1952 the Tessin Institute in Paris published a book about Hill with an introduction by Jacques Lassaigne. Since then several works about Hill have appeared in Sweden, and Hill exhibitions succeed one another both in Sweden and abroad. Hill is now reckoned as one of Sweden's best landscape painters, and the drawings done dúring the time he was ill in Lund have made him known outside Sweden as well.
Today his drawings continue to be a source of inspiration for both Swedish and international artists such as Arnulf Rainer
Arnulf Rainer
Arnulf Rainer , is an Austrian painter and is internationally renowned for his abstract informal art.In his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism...
, Günter Brus, Georg Baselitz
Georg Baselitz
Georg Baselitz is a German painter who studied in the former East Germany, before moving to what was then the country of West Germany...
, Per Kirkeby
Per Kirkeby
Per Kirkeby is a Danish painter, poet, filmmaker and sculptor.-Biography:1962 Studies at the Experimental Art School in Copenhagen; works in the School on painting, graphic arts, 8 millimeter films and performance pieces...
, Torsten Andersson
Torsten Andersson
Torsten Andersson was a Swedish politician. He was a member of the Centre Party and a member of the Swedish parliament 1953-1956 and 1957-1968 . He was county governor of Gotland County 1968-1974.-References:...
, Ola Billgren, or Donald Baechler
Donald Baechler
Donald Baechler is an American artist. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1974–77, and Cooper Union from 1977-78. Dissatisfied with New York City, he proceeded to the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Bildende Künste Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, Germany."At Cooper Union I met...
.
Selected works
- The CemeteryThe CemeteryThe Cemetery is an 1877 painting by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Hill. The painting is currently on display at the Malmö Art Museum in Sweden....
(1877) Malmö Art Museum - Quarry with wheel tracks (1877) Malmö Art Museum
- untitled (crying dear) (1883–1911) Malmö Art Museum
- untitled (landscape)Untitled (landscape)untitled is an 1883-1911 drawing by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Hill. The drawing is in the collection of the Malmö Art Museum in Sweden....
(1883–1911) Malmö Art Museum - untitled (female with demons) (1883–1911) Malmö Art Museum
- untitled (found by the Good Samaritan) (1883–1911) Malmö Art Museum