The Sea Near Christiansø 1935

Oscar Hullgren made this painting of the sea near Christiansø with oil on canvas, though we don't know exactly when. Look at the way Hullgren builds up the waves with short, confident strokes. You can see the process, the quick decisions he made with each dab of paint. It's like he's wrestling with the sea, trying to capture its energy. The paint is thick, almost sculptural in places, especially where the waves crash against the shore. I love how he uses a limited palette, mostly blues, grays, and whites, but then throws in these unexpected touches of red on the rooftops. Those red accents really pop, don't they? They add a sense of warmth and domesticity to an otherwise wild and untamed scene. This painting reminds me a bit of some of the seascapes by Emil Nolde, who also had a thing for dramatic skies and choppy waters. But where Nolde goes for intensity, Hullgren feels more restrained, more observational. It's like he's saying, "Here's what I saw, take it or leave it."