Gosse med snäcka

Tora Vega Holmström is one of the most important early-20th-century Swedish modernists. Her practice is characterized by an openness to different painterly approaches. She was born in Scania, which remained her base, but she travelled frequently – to Germany, France, Finland and Algeria. In the early 1910s, Tora Vega Holmström painted in bright colours and a mosaic-like style. Towards the end of the decade, she migrated towards paler colours and a more subtle style. Boy with Seashell was painted in several versions in 1918 during a stay in Vindeln, Västerbotten. The war years may have influenced her style by triggering a longing for eternal values. The seashell could be interpreted as a secretive symbol of infinity and eternity. The paintings from this period reveal a kinship with Italian fresco painting, which Holmström had studied in Florence in 1910.