Alfred Wahlberg (1834-1906), Boats At Saint Guénolé, 1899

Alfred Wahlberg (1834-1906) Boats in Saint Guénolé Oil on canvas signed, located and dated 1899 lower right Dimension: 54 x 70 cm Dimension with frame: 69 x 85 cm Biography: Wahlberg was born on February 13, 1834 in Stockholm in a family of artists: his father is a painter, his mother a sculptor and daughter of an Italian sculptor. After showing an early talent for music, although having been influenced by his father for painting, he entered the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Alfred Wahlberg first earned his living by giving piano lessons, but he quickly focused on painting. In 1857 he enrolled at the prestigious Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Germany. After a trip to Belgium and the Netherlands, he experienced his first successes as a landscape painter on his return to Sweden in 1862. In 1866, he left for Paris where he was exhibited at the Salon from 1868. He settled in Ecouen, north of Paris, but returns to Sweden every summer. In France, his work is particularly highlighted by Théophile Gautier. Brittany is little present in Wahlberg's work, and yet he went to Saint-Guénolé in 1899. Nothing is known about the circumstances of this trip, but as he was very close to Daubigny, it is possible that he wanted to return in the footsteps of his friend. Very few paintings by St Guénolé are known but all are dated 1899. Alfred Wahlberg died in Sweden in Tranas on October 4, 1906.