Carl Johan Forsberg – Fanø Beach

Carl Johan Forsberg (1871–1935), Fanø Beach, watercolor on paper, H. 23 cm; W. 31 cm, signed lower right.

Swedish architect, painter, and watercolorist, Carl Johan Forsberg distinguished himself at the turn of the 20th century with a sensitive body of work inspired both by Nordic rigor and European landscapes. Although trained as an architect, it is through painting that he expresses a subtle aesthetic, attentive to nuances of light, natural lines, and a certain spirituality of place.

In Fanø Beach, created during one of his stays on the Danish island of Fanø, Forsberg depicts a deserted shore in warm, shifting tones. The sinuous composition, paced by seaweed patches and layers of sand, guides the eye toward a peaceful horizon dominated by an ethereal sky and two birds in flight. The sandy mounds on the right, bathed in light, add a sculptural relief to this landscape steeped in silence.

Through delicate washes, soft transitions, and refined chromatics, this watercolor reveals Forsberg’s art: a contemplative vision of the natural world, between realism and poetic impression.