Ebbe Höglund, Dream Picture, 1960s, Oil on Canvas

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“Drömbild” (“Dream Image”) is a signed original oil on canvas by Swedish painter, draughtsman and architect Ebbe Höglund (1914–1993), attributed … Read more “Drömbild” (“Dream Image”) is a signed original oil on canvas by Swedish painter, draughtsman and architect Ebbe Höglund (1914–1993), attributed stylistically to the 1960s. The title “Drömbild” is inscribed in quotation marks on the reverse of the canvas together with the artist’s name.
The painting depicts an abstracted town or village compressed between two large dark forms. At the centre, a tall black church spire rises through a tightly grouped cluster of rooftops painted in yellow, cream, red, green and blue. Beyond them, an intense horizontal band of blue creates the impression of distant sky or water and gives the composition an unexpected sense of depth.
Höglund treats the townscape less as a literal architectural view than as a structure of colour and movement. Buildings, roofs, rocks and vegetation are simplified into compact geometric masses, while broad directional brushstrokes remain clearly visible across the surface. The darker blue-green, grey and brown forms at either side create an almost theatrical opening toward the brighter settlement beyond, directing the eye toward the central spire.
This balance between recognisable landscape and abstraction is one of the most distinctive aspects of the painting. The town remains identifiable, but individual buildings are deliberately reduced and reorganised through colour. In the foreground the forms become increasingly fragmented, with turquoise, olive, cream, black and ochre passages approaching pure abstraction.
The title “Drömbild”, approximately translated as “Dream Image”, is especially appropriate to this ambiguity. The exact location has not been identified, and the painting reads less as a topographical record than as an expressive or remembered image of a place.
Ebbe Höglund was born in Stockholm in 1914 and worked as a painter, draughtsman, architect and illustrator. He studied at Slöjdföreningens skola in Gothenburg, continued his training under Tore Ahnoff at Valand, and later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His documented body of work includes landscapes and portraits in oil and tempera as well as drawing and illustration.
Höglund’s work demonstrates a broad mid-century Scandinavian approach in which observed subjects are frequently simplified through active brushwork, strong colour and increasingly abstract structure. Auction records document a varied production ranging from landscapes and urban subjects to portraits, ballet scenes and figurative compositions.
“Drömbild” is a particularly strong example of this expressive side of his work, combining the recognisable structure of a Scandinavian townscape with bold geometric simplification and highly visible brushwork. The contrast between the dark framing masses, bright rooftops and central church spire gives the painting a strong architectural rhythm while retaining the physical immediacy of an original oil surface.
The work is signed “EBBE HÖGLUND” at the lower right. The reverse is inscribed “Drömbild”, together with the artist’s name and an earlier notation “1,500:-”. This older price marking is retained as part of the object’s history and is not used as evidence of present-day value.
Presented in its vintage light-toned wooden frame. Overall framed dimensions: approximately 64.5 × 53.5 cm. The painting is not glazed. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less