Livsmedelskö

Gösta Sandels painted the line of people outside a grocery store in 1919, the year after the armistice of the First World War. Due to the war and crop fail-ures, food was scarce in Sweden, and bread, milk and coffee were rationed. In Stockholm, parks, allotments and public places were dug up to grow potatoes and vegetables. The queue of women and men is painted in muted colours. The women are pale; one of them seems to have fainted at the back of the line – a man in uniform is offering support. Gösta Sandels was born in Gothenburg, moved to Stockholm and studied painting at Konstnärsförbundet’s school. He then travelled around Europe, with his close artist friend Birger Simonsson. He was inspired by van Gogh, Rousseau and Matisse, but also by the old masters. Sandels died the year he made The Food Queue, while travelling in Europe.