Elof Wedin (Swedish/American, 1901-1983). Oil on canvas painting titled "Grand Marais Boat House" depicting a colorful jumble of boats, 1954. Signed and dated along the lower right.

Provenance: The collection of Frank J. Indihar, M.D.; Private Minnesota Collection.

Exhibition:
Bethesda Lutheran Medical Center, St. Paul, "Elof Wedin: Retrospective Exhibition of 50 Years of Painting," February 1 - 28, 1979. No. 5 in the catalog.

Lot Essay:
Elof Wedin immigrated to the United States in 1919 from Swedin and settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the early 1920s he began taking night classes at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and in 1926 he began studying under George Oberteuffer at the Art Institute of Chicago. After returning to Minneapolis he began to paint character studies and portraits that gradually began to take on a more modernist feel, resembling portraits by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s his landscape paintings began to take on a highly abstract geometric style. With their flattened space, lack of perspective, and angular shapes, he grew into the Abstract Expressionism movement of the late 1950s and into the mid-1970s.

He had shows around the country including the Hudson Walker Gallery in New York, the Rockefeller Center in New York, the San Francisco World's Fair, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and many more throughout Minnesota. His works are held in collections such as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Weisman Art Museum, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Smithsonian Institute.
Unframed; height: 24 in x width: 36 in. Framed; height: 29 1/2 in x width: 41 1/4 in x depth: 2 1/2 in. The colors are bold and deep and the surface is stable. No visible tears, losses, or restorations under UV light. Craquelure throughout. Verso not inspected. Light wear to the frame.