Current exhibitions

18 February–20 August 2023

The painter Oskar Bergman (1879–1963) is intimately linked to the Thiel Gallery and Djurgården. With 43 works, he is one of the most well-represented artists in the Thiel collection. Signe Maria and Ernest Thiel were crucial to Bergman’s artistic career. In addition to purchasing his works, the Thiels offered him board and lodging in the Neglinge artist home in Saltsjöbaden, which they funded for a few years around 1900. Bergman became a close friend of his patrons, a friendship that continued even after Ernest Thiel had lost his fortune and was forced to sell his home and collection to the government. Bergman would visit Thiel on the island of Fjärdlång in the Stockholm archipelago to paint.

Djurgården’s pastoral settings were especially dear to the artist. He spent his summers there as a child, and this was where he began studying nature. The old oaks on Djurgården became a favourite subject of his..

Characteristic of Oskar Bergman’s oeuvre is the atmospheric and meticulously detailed urban and pastoral landscapes, with their vibrant colours and shimmering light. He used mainly watercolours but also oil, gouache and graphite. Alongside painting, Bergman was a printmaker and illustrator. People rarely feature in his motifs. Instead, he portrayed forests, solitary trees, roads, fields and water in different seasons, along with wildflowers, picturesque city scenes and the archipelago.