Scandinavian Paintings

The first auction house to internationalise the Nordic paintings market, Sotheby’s has been active in this field for over thirty years. Over three decades, we have focused buyers from around the globe on Nordic art, to the extent that nearly 60% by value of Nordic art sold at Sotheby’s in London over the past five years has been to non-Nordic buyers.

Offering Nordic art at auction in London results in the highest prices. Sotheby’s holds the world record price for any work of art from each of the Nordic countries: Norway (Edvard Munch), Sweden (August Strindberg), Denmark (Vilhelm Hammershøi), and Finland (Helene Schjerfbeck). We also hold record auction prices for numerous other notable artists from the region, from Harald Sohlberg and Nikolai Astrup to Albert Edelfelt.

In 2019 we held record-breaking sales of important works by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Harald Sohlberg. In early 2020 we announced the sale of Gallen-Kallela’s masterpiece Palokärki (Great Black Woodpecker) to the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Sotheby’s has particular strength in selling the works of Vilhelm Hammershøi.Sotheby’s has sold 8 of the top 10 prices at auction for the artist, all of which have sold in excess of £1 million. In November 2017, Interior with Woman at Piano, Strandgade 30 sold for $6.2 million (£4.7 million) beating the record set by Sotheby’s in May 2015.

Held twice-yearly in London, our sales of 19th Century European Paintings provide the ideal platform for reaching a global audience and realising the highest prices.