Watercolor and oil in Hagestad

For the second Easter in a row, father and son, Anders Holmqvist and Mattias Holmqvist, have a joint exhibition in Hagestad.

Anders Holmqvist was hooked on watercolor painting early on. He often finds the motifs in south-eastern Scania, and most of them are within cycling distance of the combined home and gallery in Hagestad. The son Mattias now prefers to paint in oil, and many of his motifs are taken from the same eastern landscape.

Landscape painting can often be referred to with a contemptuous snort, especially by the occasional art critic. Is something bothering you?

- I have always admired artists such as Monet, Constable, Zorn or the old Flemish masters of the 17th century, mainly for their fantastic landscape paintings, says Anders. It can bother me that I sometimes have to defend myself because I also want to paint landscapes. But my paintings are my interpretation of a landscape, and that must still be allowed, right? I have sat and painted the same motif next to my father Kristian, who was a very skilled artist. The finished results were completely different from each other. So there must be a place for everyone, even landscape painters, regardless of what century you happen to be born in. In addition, the paintings can be interesting time documents, because the landscape changes all the time.

Mattias Holmqvist agrees. It is now the fourth generation that is painting. Already as a child, Mattias started painting with oil paints used by great-grandfather Nils (born 1893). At the age of six, he exhibited for the first time in his boy's room during Easter.

- On weekdays I am a social worker, but in my free time I am a landscape painter, says Mattias. I draw my historical inspiration from Impressionism, and the local inspiration comes from Nolle Svensson and Rolf Nilsson. Rolf was also my neighbor here in Hagestad, so I often hung over him when he was painting. I was fascinated by both his still life and the motifs from the surrounding landscape.

The exhibition in Hagestad is open from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Signs show the way from the coastal road at Backåkra and Sandhammaren.