ArtistSwedish
Ellis Wallin
4 active items
Elias Theodor Wallin - known as Ellis - was born on December 10, 1888 in Uppsala, and spent his formative years absorbing the city's architectural character before turning fully to painting. He trained at the Tekniska skolan in Uppsala from 1907 to 1910, then moved to Stockholm where he attended Althins målarskola before gaining admission to the Kungliga Konsthögskolan, where he studied under Olle Hjortzberg and Wilhelm Smith from 1914 to 1920. His academic grounding was thorough, and the confidence it gave him is visible in the assured, observational quality of his mature work.
After completing his studies, Wallin spent the 1920s and early 1930s based in Paris, a period that would prove the most formative of his career. He made study trips to Italy in 1920-21 and the Netherlands in 1923, absorbing Dutch landscape tradition and Italian light, before returning each time to France. In Paris he encountered the French Nouveau Réalisme movement, which left a lasting mark on his approach to ordinary subjects - streets, bridges, riverside views - treated with directness and a clear eye for tonal structure. His paintings from this period were exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, Salon d'automne and Salon des Tuileries between 1926 and 1937, and he held solo exhibitions in Paris from 1927 to 1933 and in Rouen in 1927.
Returning to Sweden in 1933, Wallin settled back in Stockholm while continuing to paint the landscapes that had occupied him throughout his career: coastal scenes from Bohuslän, pastoral motifs from Skåne, Paris streetscapes recalled from his years abroad, and views across Stockholm's southern neighborhoods - Södermalm, Vitabergen, Liljeholmen. His range ran from sun-drenched Mediterranean village streets to winter views of Stockholm, from Gullholmen harbour to Notre Dame on a grey morning. He also worked in etching, producing prints of Uppsala's castle and streets. The Uppsala Art Association honoured him with a retrospective in 1938, and he continued exhibiting in Stockholm through 1956.
Wallin served as chairman of the Svenska Konstnärernas Klubb from 1936 to 1947 and was named honorary chairman in 1958, a role that reflected his standing within the Swedish art community over several decades. His work entered the collections of Nationalmuseum and Moderna museet in Stockholm, Göteborgs konstmuseum, Malmö Museum, and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris - a breadth of institutional representation that reflects the consistent quality of his output across five decades.
At auction, Wallin's work circulates primarily through Swedish regional houses. On Auctionist, 37 lots have been catalogued, with appearances at Crafoord Auktioner Stockholm, Uppsala Auktionskammare, Stockholms Auktionsverk and Formstad Auktioner. Top recorded prices include 3,100 SEK for a view from Vitabergen toward Sofia kyrka and 2,800 SEK for "Snöfläckar", a winter scene from Eriksdalslunden. Works span oils on canvas and panel alongside etchings, with subjects ranging from Bohuslän archipelago to Paris motifs.