Strong international interest as eleven lots cross one million SEK at The Modern Art & Design Sale

Andy Warhol accounted for two of Thursday’s strongest results: the iconic Frölunda Hockey Player, whose unexpected link to Swedish ice hockey history drove the final price to SEK 5 million, and Monkey (Toy Painting), which sold for SEK 1,875,000.

Fernand Léger’s Composition (Le médaillon) — a key work from a period when the artist was transitioning from strict mechanical forms to freer, more organic expressions — reached a final price of SEK 2,340,000. Another million-SEK result came from Pablo Picasso’s poetic drawing Colombe aux Ailes ouvertes et Visage, created in 1950 for Paul Éluard’s poetry collection Le Visage de la Paix, which sold for SEK 1,170,000.

One of the auction’s most unexpected top results was the exceptionally rare original of a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, gifted directly by Bill Watterson to Jan Lindell, former CEO of the comic book publisher Semic Press. Lindell published Calvin and Hobbes in Sweden and maintained close relationships with many cartoonists. The strong final price of SEK 1,812,500 confirmed the series’ status as the last great newspaper comic, as well as the significant international interest in original works that very rarely reach the market.

Thursday’s sale also saw strong results for Maria Helena Vieira da Silva’s Souterrain/Colonne and Anna Güntner’s Dialog, which sold for SEK 1,365,000 and SEK 1,170,000, respectively.

Swedish modernists also broke the million-SEK threshold: Olle Olsson-Hagalund’s Gula farans intåg i Hagalund sold for SEK 1,040,000, and Einar Jolin’s elegant winter scene Promenerande på Strandvägen (1939) reached a final price of SEK 1,690,000.

“We are incredibly proud of a fantastic art auction, with the sale of Andy Warhol’s Frölunda Hockey Player naturally being the absolute highlight of the day. It is an auction that truly demonstrates the breadth of our modern offering — from international icons such as Warhol and Léger to beloved Swedish artists,” says Victoria Svederberg, Head of the Art Department at Stockholms Auktionsverk.

During the previous day of The Modern Art & Design Sale — on Wednesday — the Design Department at Stockholms Auktionsverk also achieved two million-SEK results: Josef Frank’s “Flora” chest of drawers from the early 1940s (SEK 1,000,000) and Fernand Léger’s woven tapestry Sao Paulo (SEK 1,248,000).