Paint Can and Onions. Vintage Swedish Still Life Oil Painting.

In this quietly compelling still life from 1963, Swedish artist Harry Sandberg presents a thoughtful arrangement of humble objects: a paint can and a few onions. With a restrained palette and confident brushwork, Sandberg transforms the everyday into something timeless and meditative.

The metallic sheen of the paint can is rendered with subtle highlights, contrasting with the warm, organic forms of the onions beside it. The composition is spare, yet carefully balanced, a study in texture, light, and material presence. Sandberg draws attention to the overlooked poetry of simple forms, evoking a quiet sense of observation and intimacy.

This work reflects Sandberg’s broader artistic language in the 1960s — grounded in modernist clarity but deeply personal in tone. It is not a dramatic still life, but a reflective one, inviting the viewer into a moment of stillness and attention.

Great vintage condition

Framed size: 48 x 30cm / 18.9 x 11.8in 

Technique: Oil on canvas

Artist: Harry Sandberg, Swedish (1920-1985)