Paul Holsby, a Night to Remember, 1971, Lithograph

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“en natt att minnas” (“a night to remember”) is a hand-signed color lithograph by swedish painter and graphic artist paul … Read more “en natt att minnas” (“a night to remember”) is a hand-signed color lithograph by swedish painter and graphic artist paul georg holsby (1921–2007), created in 1971.
the work is signed and dated in pencil “paul holsby -71”, inscribed “handtryck” (“hand printed”), and marked h.c. Xii/xvi. The h.c. Designation indicates a hors commerce impression, produced outside the regular numbered edition. Other documented impressions of this composition belong to a regular edition of 50, making this xii/xvi hors commerce example an especially interesting edition state.
the composition is characteristic of holsby’s mature graphic language. Human profiles, figures, circular structures and biomorphic forms overlap in a dense, deliberately unstable arrangement. Recognisable faces emerge and disappear into spirals, wheel-like forms and sweeping black structures, placing the work somewhere between figurative art and abstraction.
the restricted palette of emerald and olive green, dense black and warm unprinted paper gives the composition a particularly strong graphic presence. Despite its complexity, the image remains balanced by large areas of open paper, creating an effective tension between dense mark-making and negative space.
holsby was part of the post-war swedish modernist generation. He studied with andré lhote in paris from 1948 to 1951, an experience that helps explain the strong sense of structure and post-cubist construction visible in his work. Holsby was later associated with the swedish artist group skånsk treklöver together with harry roskvist and gillis sahlin. The group exhibited at galerie lucy krohg in paris in 1957, and holsby later held an individual exhibition at galerie des beaux-arts in paris in 1967. His work and exhibition-related material are represented in the collection of sweden’s nationalmuseum.
“en natt att minnas” is a particularly expressive example of holsby’s approach to figurative abstraction, combining post-cubist construction, surreal and biomorphic elements and the immediacy of hand-printed graphic work.
presented in a vintage slim silver-toned frame with a pale mount. Overall framed dimensions: 64 × 52 cm. This piece has an attribution mark,
i am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
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