Hills by the Sea

A charming mid-century modernist oil painting that captures a serene coastal escarpment overlooking calm blue waters, by Swedish artist Eric Elfvén (1921–2008), whose works have been exhibited in public collections including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Jönköping Museum, Borås Art Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Rounded clusters of deep green foliage cascade across the foreground and hillside, while muted brown paths and cliff faces gently guide the eye toward the distant horizon. The simplified forms and restrained composition give the work a meditative stillness, evoking the quiet rhythm of an isolated shoreline.

Executed in a highly gestural modernist style, the painting balances abstraction with landscape representation. The artist reduces the scene into broad organic shapes and sweeping planes of colour, allowing atmosphere and structure to take precedence over fine detail. There is a subtle tension between the solidity of the landmass and the openness of the sea and sky, creating a beautifully understated composition.

The palette is both earthy and calming, composed of rich forest greens, olive tones, muted sand, pale cream, and soft powder blues. The contrast between the cool expanse of water and the dense, shadowed greenery gives the work depth while maintaining its minimalist sensibility.

Brushstrokes are broad, confident, and painterly, applied with visible texture and an instinctive rhythm. Thick curved strokes shape the foliage with a sculptural quality, while the sea and sky are rendered in smoother, flatter passages that heighten the sense of calm and spaciousness.

This oil on canvas is presented in a complementary gilt frame. The painting is in excellent vintage condition, and the frame has minor scuffs. 

Size: 57 x 79 cm (including frame)