JOHAN SEVENBOM

Närke 1721 — 1784 Stockholm

A River God and a River Goddess, a pair of drawings

black & white chalk on blue paper. 22 x 171/4" (560 x 440 mm). signed J. Sevenbom and dated 11 Febriari on the lip of the urn on which the River Goddess leans.

Sevenbom, a Scandinavian native, studied with the French-born Taraval in the Academie at Stockholm, then stayed in that city where he enjoyed a successful career decorating many of its chateaux. These fabulously decorative images were drawn by him after a pair of paintings by Carle Vanloo, commissioned for the Palais Royal in Stockholm around 1740 by its architect, and hung there as overdoors. Today, the paintings hang in the Musée de Stockholm.1 In 1753 and 1775 painted replicas were exhibited in the Salon de Toulouse.2 Such lustful, evocative and appealing images were much appreciated in their own day, as they are today.
1

inv. NM 847 & 848.

2

Sotheby's, Monaco, June 20th & 21st, 1987, lot #657.