KunstenaarSwedish
Lars Lerin
1 actieve items
Lars Lerin paints Scandinavia's winters as if the cold itself were a colour. His large-format watercolours of snow-covered Vaermland forests, frozen lakes, and desolate coastal landscapes capture the particular quality of Nordic light at its lowest and most atmospheric. Working wet-into-wet, he builds compositions of remarkable fluidity, where the boundaries between sky and land dissolve into washes of grey, blue, and white that feel both precise and elemental.
Born in Munkfors, Vaermland, Lerin studied at the Gerlesborg School of Fine Art (1974-1975) and at the Valand School of Fine Arts in Gothenburg (1980-1984). He is widely considered one of the world's leading living watercolour painters, a reputation built on the scale and technical ambition of his work. While watercolour is often associated with intimate, small-format painting, Lerin's pieces can be monumental, commanding gallery walls with the presence of oil paintings.
His subjects extend beyond Vaermland to include Lofoten in northern Norway, urban scenes, and camping landscapes, always rendered in the dark, atmospheric palette that has become his signature. He is also a prolific author, having published over fifty books since his debut "Utpost" (1983). In 2014, he was awarded the August Prize, Sweden's most prestigious literary award, for his book "Naturlaera." The municipality of Karlstad honoured him with a dedicated museum, Sandgrund Lars Lerin, which opened in 2012.
At auction, Lerin's watercolours appear through Karlstad Hammaroe Auktionsverk (which handles the largest share), Bukowskis, and Stockholms Auktionsverk Fine Art. His market is strong, with winter landscapes reaching 205,000 to 210,000 SEK. The 160 items on Auctionist include both paintings and collectible print editions.