Thomas Nyqvist - invitation

An Urban Romantic

In the 18th century, the romantic view of the unique human abilities to show dramatic feelings in the art that reflects our overall experiences of the world was booming. In addition to other types of painting, the landscape painting proved to be very popular for expressing the relationship between the man and the nature. Views of the mountain range, forest paths, ruins of ancient temples and medieval castles were popular topics.

Thomas Nyqvist evokes with his paintings similar thoughts but he uses themes typical for our period. Old industrial areas, deserted night streets, buildings condemned to destruction, ruins that we do not even want to see. His paintings show the gloomy sides of the urban landscape as it is but at the same time depicts it in a romantic way. Although Thomas' main intention is not to show the misery and poverty of urbanism, it is impossible to completely avoid this idea. Thomas is like a lonely night walker, a contemporary romantic poet who first portrays abandoned places that has  captured his attention and then he transforms them into paintings in the calmness of his atelier.

In this metamorphosis, the quality of the painters style stands out and takes on the most important part of the work. In fact, Nyqvist's classic painting technique, imprimo and the narrowly defined palette of colors come into the focus of the viewer. The glaze color applied with a dry brush communicates with impasto strokes under the dramatically painted sky. Painter's style becomes a decisive quality and a source of satisfaction. Thomas Nyqvist is able to link the romantic view of art with the current concept of an image independent on the viewer's opinion. At the first glance, the grim theme turns into a positive experience, into a painting that does not need any further explanation.

Petr Řehoř / Curator