A City in Full Colour

A vibrant and spirited painting depicting a bustling waterfront town, alive with colour, movement and playful architectural forms, painted in oil and dated 1969 by the established Swedish artist Uno Vallman (1913-2004) whose works are included in the Swedish National Museum and The Swedish Modern Museum, to name a few. His works are also included in the collections of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and the Tessin Institute in Paris.

The composition unfolds from an elevated perspective, revealing a lively network of winding streets, brightly coloured buildings, scattered cars and boats bobbing along the waterfront. A striking yellow roadway sweeps through the foreground, drawing the eye towards a cluster of red, ochre and cream buildings, while whimsical, almost fantastical forms float across the turquoise sky. The artist’s imaginative interpretation of the urban landscape gives the scene a delightful sense of energy and spontaneity.

Executed in a distinctly expressive modernist style, the painting embraces playful distortion, flattened perspectives and bold, simplified forms. Strong black outlines define the buildings, vehicles and boats, lending the composition an almost illustrative, cartoon-like quality reminiscent of Fauvist and Expressionist influences.

The palette is particularly striking, with vivid sunshine yellows, fiery reds and warm oranges contrasting beautifully against refreshing mint greens, turquoise blues and soft creams. Energetic, gestural brushstrokes and loosely applied passages of paint create a rich sense of texture and movement, while areas of exposed canvas and spontaneous white highlights enhance the painting’s lively, unrestrained character.

This oil on canvas is presented in a complementary gilt frame with an inner linen border. Both the painting and frame are in excellent vintage condition. 

Size: 57.5 x 67 cm (including frame)