Art is coloured by the new era - The 1920´s

Rationalism, optimism, and a strong belief in the future make obvious traces on the canvases. With straight lines and right angles, smokestacks and steaming machines become the motifs of the day. Artists play with geometric shapes in a limited space. The surface is important in the construction of the image, in contrast to impressionists´ pictures with their thick layers of paint, now hardly a brushstroke is visible.

When the five young Halmstad artists, filled with inspiration and optimism, show their modern art in their home town it is received with great trepidation. Sweden, with its national romantic heritage apparent in such artists as Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson, still has difficulty accepting this iconoclastic modernism. The artists´ dreams meet with resistance when no one wants to buy their paintings - or even show their work.

In 1928 Mörner comes in contact with the Halmstad artists when he visits his father who is governor of the province of Halland. The six friends decide to work together. With joint exhibitions they seek to establish modern art firmly. So in 1929 the Halmstad Group is established and in January of 1930 they have a breakthrough with their first exhibition at Göteborgs Konsthall.

Next: The meeting with surrealism