Leida Rives-Elfvén gouache

A Swedish gouache by Leida Rives-Elfvén, dated 1955 and signed “L. Rives 55” in the lower-right margin. The work is executed on paper and presented behind glass in a moulded gilt frame. Its vertically oriented composition consists of overlapping geometric and biomorphic forms organized within layered rectangular fields.

The palette combines charcoal black, blue-grey and burgundy with brick red, coral, ochre, brown and pale yellow. Angular polygons, arcs, wedges and irregular planes intersect across the surface, producing spatial depth through overlap and tonal contrast rather than conventional perspective. The opaque, matte character of gouache allows the colors to remain clearly separated while retaining subtle variations associated with hand-applied pigment.

The work belongs to the tradition of Concretism, an approach to abstraction in which color, line and geometric form function as independent pictorial elements rather than representing an external subject. This type of non-figurative composition became particularly significant in postwar Scandinavian art, where carefully structured geometry was frequently combined with more intuitive shapes and restrained material execution.

The overall framed dimensions are 33 × 4 × 53 cm, corresponding to approximately 13.0 × 1.6 × 20.9 inches. Based on the photographs, the work presents as a vintage framed piece with visible age-related rubbing, marks and small losses to the gilt finish.