During the autumn of 2024, Stockholms Auktionsverk had the pleasure of presenting a fine selection of works by the artist Tom Krestesen. We are now honored to once again offer a new selection of his works. This time, we not only get to see his expressive portraits but also his brighter landscapes. Born in Kolding, Denmark, in 1927, Krestesen moved to Sweden at the age of 21 and studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm from 1950 to 1956. Several teachers played a crucial role in shaping his artistic voice: Sven X-et Eriksson, with his expressive social engagement, Olle Nyman’s form-conscious classicism, and Bror Hjorth’s focus on volume. What makes Tom Krestesen’s work so distinctive is his unique ability to combine these different influences, creating paintings infused with darkness, desire, and decay — yet also marked by a calm, almost meditative clarity. Krestesen’s art is deeply rooted in the visual worlds of the Renaissance and the Baroque, particularly in the tangible sense of physicality, the architectural composition, and the dramatic tension. At the same time, his work remains firmly connected to his own era. There are clear parallels with the expressive intensity of Chaïm Soutine and the distorted, visceral depictions of bodies, spaces, and movement found in the work of Francis Bacon. Much like the French Nouveau Réalistes, Krestesen also incorporated found objects as the basis for his paintings — doors, tabletops, and other materials, each with their own visible history and tactile presence. The depth and darkness of Krestesen’s images is one of their most striking features. This effect stems from his process: working with ink, which he repeatedly rubbed into the wood, layer upon layer. The image and the grain of the wood become one, and the motif seems — even within the darkness — to glow from within. The selection of works reflects the different themes and genres that Krestesen explored: grand biblical scenes, a haunting series of portraits where faces emerge from the shadows of history, still lifes in which objects transform into subjects, and expansive landscapes filled with light and space. These varied subjects allowed Krestesen to delve into a wide range of human experiences and emotions. What unites them all, however, is his relentless search for the essence of things — the very core of existence itself. Tom Krestesen’s works can be found in numerous public and private collections across Sweden and the Nordic countries, including Moderna Museet and the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, the National Gallery in Oslo, the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavik, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Borås Art Museum, Norrköping Art Museum, and Västerås Art Museum. Tom Krestesen passed away in 2017, and the paintings now being offered come directly from his family.