ArtistSwedish
Pär Thorell
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Pär Gösta Thorell was born on September 12, 1923, in Linköping. His father died from complications following a motorcycle accident when Pär was five, and he grew up with his mother in a city that would later become the central subject of his painting. He began his formal training at Slöjdföreningens skola in Gothenburg in 1943, then moved to Stockholm to study at Kungliga Konsthögskolan from 1946 to 1948. During that period he also attended the etching school, developing a printmaking practice alongside his work in oil and drawing. Early recognition came quickly: in 1947 he was included in the group exhibition Unga tecknare at Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
The most direct influence on his painterly development was Sven "X:et" Erixson, who taught at the academy and carried forward a Swedish strand of colorist figuration. Thorell absorbed this alongside a longer engagement with Paul Cézanne, whose structured approach to color and form can be felt in Thorell's best oils. The result was a body of work built on saturated reds, greens, and blues, applied with an assurance that made his paintings of Linköping distinctive within the regional scene. He returned to the city after his Stockholm years and became, in time, something of a local figure - known for painting its streets, buildings, and inhabitants with an energy that set him apart from more conventional landscape painters of the era.
He had separate exhibitions in Linköping across the late 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, as well as shows in Finspång. His work was shown at the Stockholmssalongen in Liljevalchs konsthall in 1962 and 1963, marking his most visible presence on the national circuit. He received scholarships from Östgöta konstförening during 1946 to 1951 and from Östgöta Journalister in 1956. Works from this period entered the collections of Östergötlands museum in Linköping, which holds an oil self-portrait with hat, a charcoal portrait study from 1951, and a drawing from 1953. Moderna Museet in Stockholm holds at least one work attributed to him.
The final decade of Thorell's life was difficult. Alcoholism in the mid-1960s damaged his marriage, ended in divorce after a violent incident in which he shot himself in the shoulder with a Mauser rifle, permanently injuring his left arm. Exhibition venues contracted from Liljevalchs and the Östergötlands museum to smaller venues in Finspång. He withdrew to a rented cottage in Bönhamn in the Nordingrå peninsula of Ångermanland, where he died in a fire on December 21, 1969, aged 46. A 2023 biography, "Ge tusan i att kalla mig mästare - om konstnären Pär Thorell," written by Christer Palmborg, Christer Fällman, and Stefan Hammenbeck, has renewed attention to his life and art.
At auction, Thorell's works appear primarily through regional houses in the Östergötland area, particularly Gomér & Andersson in Norrköping and Linköping. Recorded hammer prices range from a few hundred euros for drawings and etchings to around 3,200 SEK for oils. His work circulates within a committed regional collector base, and the 2023 biography may bring broader market attention.