Halland – Erik Sköld and Lars Hallberg

Halland is often associated with the coast and the open sea. But even if it´s never very far to the sea the landscape obviously offers a variety of nature. The flowy landscape with a variation of sand and rock ridges is suitable for heather. Did you know that the heather of Halland inspired Kajsa Willner when she designed the tables for the museum´s café downstairs?

Erik Sköld was really generous with the heather purple hue when he painted the small landscape from the coast by Söndrum outside Halmstad. The ground is covered in heather and the purple is only broken by a sandy path and some low green wind tortured pines. The sea is almost white and encounters the blue ridge on the other side of the bay. The alternately white, alternately bluish grey clouds give a feeling of a somewhat windy day. Perhaps one could even expect some thunder and lightning?

Erik Sköld, who was from Halmstad, was artistically educated at the Art Academy Valand in Gothenburg. But he was also a conservator who´s expertise were used on objects in the museum´s collection. His studio was nearby and he was close friends with the museum´s first manager, Erik Salvén. Halland Museum, today´s Halland Art Museum opened in 1933, and that same year the two friends contributed in forming the loose artist group Hallandsringen. They were inspired by the Halmstad Group, but also triggered by their local domination on the art scene. The artists Arvid Carlson and Ansgarius Börjesson were two of the other members of the group Hallandsringen.

Lars Hallberg also operated in Halmstad. His painting ”Before thunder” has like Skölds landscape big fields of vibrant colour. Hallbergs landscape, though, is much more abstract, which was typical for him. Half of the surface, the lower part of the standing format, is pink. Above the horizon an intense blue toned into a pale bluish grey which forms something that could remind of a tornado. It is surrounded by a subtle purple and on both sides a black shape, maybe rocks, maybe silhouettes of lush trees. The painting is rich in contrasts and gives a feeling of lightning and thunder but without the typical symbols such as flashes or built up clouds.