Fiumano Clase

09/02/2026

In this watercolour Ivar Arosenius depicts the Garden of Eden as an island where the tree of knowledge grows. Birds sit in the crown of the tree, which covers the entire island. The domesticated animals wander around peacefully in pairs below. A farmer-like Adam walks behind a voluptuous but not idealised Eve. Stylised fish swim around the island.

Above the island, on a throne, is seated God the Father, smiling softly with a distinctly red nose. Behind him the sun appears like a halo, and he is surrounded by trombone-blowing cherubs.

The manner in which the title at the top has been written, and the distinctive red and blue hues, relate closely to colours often used regionally both in churches and domestic decorative paintings at the time. It is not impossible that Arosenius was also inspired by the painting 'Neptune and Amphitrite' by Frans Francken the Younger, which is in the Gothenburg Museum of Art. The fish in the sea and the butterfly-like wings of the cherubs are strongly reminiscent of Francken’s work.

Ivar Arosenius
Gothenburg 1878 - 1909 Älvängen
And yes, it was pretty good (Och si, det var allt ganska godt), 1903
Signed .IA. lower left, dated .03. lower right
Titled "OCH SI, DET VAR ALLT GANSKA GODT." at the top of the image
Further titled and signed verso
Watercolour and gouache on paper
20.8 x 14.3 cm
8 1/4 x 5 5/8 in
(CFA465)

08/02/2026

It's been an absolute pleasure to exhibit during Master Drawings New York week. We have welcomed many old and new faces to the Onishi Gallery. Now its time to return to Blighty but we look forward to coming back soon!

07/02/2026

Måns (“Måsse”) Schjerfbeck (1897–1971) was the artist’s nephew, the son of the architect Magnus Schjerfbeck. By profession a schoolteacher in Helsinki, he was remembered as a quiet, withdrawn figure and appears in Schjerfbeck’s work on several occasions (two portraits are currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ).

Here, with a few assured graphite lines and a deliberately reduced facial description, Schjerfbeck captures him seated at home, absorbed in reading a newspaper. The economy of means—structuring contours, shorthand modelling, and an emphasis on pose and presence over likeness—typifies her late draughtsmanship, where character is conveyed through rhythm, weight, and silence.

Schjerfbeck also portrayed Måns in one of her best-known images, commonly subtitled The Motorist — a modern persona conjured with a distinctly literary edge. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, she recast her sitter as a contemporary dandy, turning the motorcar into a symbol of modernity rather than biography (Måns neither owned a car nor held a driving licence), an example of Schjerfbeck’s ability to invent a forward-looking world within the intimate sphere of family.

Helene Schjerfbeck
Helsinki 1862 - 1946 Saltsjöbaden
Måns Schjerfbeck (The Motorist), 1930s
Signed with monogram HS lower right
Graphite on paper
31.4 x 23.9 cm
12 3/8 x 9 3/8 in
(at longest and widest points)

For sale with at Master Drawings New York

06/02/2026

In Herman Lohe´s practice the natural world serves as a support on which he can project emotions and highlight eternal questions of what it is to be alive and what it means to be human, our connection to nature and our relation to the natural world. Lohes serene landscapes invite the observer to ponder their relationship with the natural world and human existence.

"All of my art is really about conveying emotions. It can be a painting, a video installation or a piece of music but basically it is about how to touch upon the eternal questions of joy, sorrow, life and death. It is about the existence and the basic needs. The viewer is an equally important part of the artwork as the actual content of the work itself. Both feed from each other and it ́s within that connection that something sacred could happen, a highly personal experience between the viewer and the work."
- Herman Lohe

Herman Lohe
Swedish, b. 1967
First Dawn (Första gryningsljuset), 2025
Signed, titled and dated verso
Watercolour and gouache on paper
30 x 30 cm
11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in

For sale with at Master Drawings New York

05/02/2026

Clase Fine Art will be showing at the lovely Onishi Gallery, 16 E 79th Street, New York. Celebrating 20 years of working with old masters and contemporary.
In this image a newly rediscovered drawing of Saint Peter Delivered from Prison by Bernardo Strozzi hangs beside a series of pieces by the Swedish artist Ivar Arosenius.

Open from 11am - 6pm daily until the 7th February.

04/02/2026

Born in Stockholm, Sweden 1977, Alexander has studied with various painters in Sweden and USA. He has been making a living as a painter from the age of 22 and has exhibited his work in various parts of USA and Europe. Collectors come from USA, UK, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Norway.

“The past is my guide for looking at our world today. Some of our most human traits like our unyielding desire to indulge and consume, our innate attraction to myths and legends, and our relentless quest for divine power and control run like a red thread throughout human history. I am trying to follow that thread to see where it takes me in my art.”
Alexander Klingspor

Alexander Klingspor
Swedish, b. 1977
Waterloo Place, 2025
Signed A Klingspor lower right
Graphite, coloured pencil, watercolour, liquid charcoal, pastel pencil and gouache on Arches Watercolour Paper 640 gsm
58 x 50 cm
22 7/8 x 19 3/4 in

For sale with at Master Drawings New York

03/02/2026

Flash back to the opening night of Master Drawings New York last Friday. Thank you to everyone who braved the freezing temperatures (and have been continuing to do so all week). It was a pleasure to welcome old and new friends!

02/02/2026

Ernst Josephson was one of the most innovative Swedish painters of the late nineteenth century and a key precursor of Nordic modernism. Trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, he continued his studies in Paris in the 1870s, absorbing French realism and the work of artists such as Courbet and Bastien-Lepage.

“The Rapids, Gargilesse” belongs to the group of river and waterfall studies executed along the Creuse and is closely related to Josephson’s Norwegian rapids from Eggedal and the celebrated Strömkarlen of 1884. Here the dynamic force of the rushing water is built up with the palette knife in alternating long, sinuously pulled strokes and short, abrupt touches, laid over a ground of deep greens and earth colours. Passages of pure blue, white and red break across the surface, giving the painting an almost abstract chromatic rhythm in which sensation and mood take precedence over description.

Ernst Josephson
Stockholm 1851 - 1906
The Rapids, Gargilesse, France, 1886/87
Signed Joseph lower right
Oil on panel
26 x 35 cm
10 1/4 x 13 3/4 in

For sale with at Master Drawings New York

01/02/2026

Contemporary and Classical art are always good bedfellows. Here we have two Swedish artists showing together in perfect harmony!
Herman Lohe's evocative and suggestive landscapes contrast with the hyper realistic depiction of Årsta Bridge, Stockholm. Both on view as part of week until the 7th February 2026!

Visit us at Onishi Gallery, 16 E 79th Street, New York

Hours:
Sunday, February 1: 1pm - 5pm
Monday, February 2: 11am - 6pm
Tuesday, February 3: 11am - 6pm, evening event 6-8.30 (contact us for an invite)
Wednesday, February 4: 11am - 6pm
Thursday, February 5: 11am - 6pm
Friday, February 6: 11am - 6pm
Saturday, February 7: 11am - 6pm

31/01/2026

This recently rediscovered drawing of Saint Peter Delivered from Prison reveals Bernardo Strozzi at his most experimental, using dense hatching and strong chiaroscuro in a manner characteristic of his Venetian period. Comparisons with related paintings, drawings and the artist’s only known etching suggest that the sheet was conceived as a preparatory design for a print, making it a key document of Strozzi’s interest in graphic techniques and the art of engraving and woodcut.

Bernardo Strozzi
Genova 1581 - 1644 Venice
The Liberation of St. Peter from Jail, circa 1642-1644
Pen and ink on paper
26.9 x 19 cm
10 5/8 x 7 1/2 in

For sale with at Master Drawings New York

30/01/2026

We are in New York with our Sister Gallery Clase Fine Art. Participating in Master Drawings New York for the first time Clase Fine art will be showcasing work from the 17th - 21st Century!

Venue:
Onishi Gallery, 16 E 79th Street, New York
Hours:
30th January - 7th February 2026

30/01/2026