The Town (Strindberg)

August Strindberg had no training in art. He painted only in periods, mainly landscapes and seascapes with dramatic waves and skies.[1] He painted choppy sea in the storm with seething waves, clouds of rebellion and burnings that whips against the rocky shores. His painting method remained personally improvised.[2]

He painted mostly in periods of crisis, when he had difficulty writing. He did not have a breakthrough as a painter until long after his death.[3] He has come to be regarded as a pioneer of expressionism as an art form in Sweden. In the 1870s he spent time with several young artists such as Carl Larsson and others in Grez-sur-Loing then himself began attempts in painting. He also worked as an art critic.

The Town is an oil painting made with a palette knife, with thick layers of paint laid on the canvas. It is a landscape painting, with a town in the distance, its tallest building reflected in the water's surface. The painting is dominated by the dark colors of the high sky and clouds, with a color scheme in white, black and gray, with the brightly lit town's trees depicted in green.