A thin man with thick hair, he gazes out to the left through thin spectacles. He holds a violin in his hands. Dressed in black, he is silhouetted against the bright golden gleam of the wooden panelling. Ahlgrensson looks determined. This is a portrait of a friend, one that highlights the artist’s calling as a serious one and art as a spiritual dimension of existence. This seems to be how the Rackstad artists viewed their profession: by revealing Nature’s beauty and spiritual dimension, art offers comfort in a harsh existence.
Kristoffer Arvidsson from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014
