Collection Online as of June 1, 2023
The Sunlight
Ture Nikolaus Cederström
(Swedish, 1843–1924)
Oil on fabric
Unframed: 47 x 33.5 cm (18 1/2 x 13 3/16 in.)
Gift of the Frances W. Ingalls Trust 1996.274
Location
not on view
Description
Monastic life was a popular subject among painters working in Munich, where Ture Nikolaus Cederström spent much of his career. The monk seen here is immersed in thought, looking pensively through a window and using his finger to hold his place in a book. Such paintings were popular for the access they provided to private life within monasteries, which were closed to the public. The monk’s casual pose and absorption in the view provide an approachable vision of religion, showing the figure’s longing for the outside world.
Ture Nikolaus Cederström
A cousin of the painter Gustaf Olaf Cederström (1845-1933), Ture Nikolaus also served as an officer of the Swedish Royal Guard (1868-71). He studied from 1868 to 1869 in Paris with Swedish genre and portrait painter Hugo Fredrik Salmson (1844-1894) and continued his training with history painter Albert Baur (1835-1906) in Düsseldorf. After finishing his military service, Cederström studied in Weimar from 1872 until 1875. In 1877 he moved to Munich, where he remained for the rest of his life. Influenced by history painter Karl Theodor von Piloty (1826-1886) and, in particular, genre painter Eduard von Grützner (1846-1878), Cederström painted genre scenes, most of which concerned the life of monks and priests. During his lifetime he received various honors and decorations.