Thines Ahlcrona-Ohlsén, 1939

Lotte Laserstein

Narrator: The portrait of Thines Ahlcrona Ohlsén (1894 1991) exudes more artistic freedom than many of Laserstein’s other projects. Ahlcrona Ohlsén was a reform pedagogue who ran a preschool in her own home on Ehrensvärdsgatan near Värnhem in Malmö. Laserstein paints her standing in three quarter profile, the teacher meeting the observer face to face with a watchful, calm gaze. With one hand in the pocket of her white coat and the other resting on her hip, she stands as steady as a rock. Laserstein captures an impressive confidence and strength, emphasized by Thines’ powerful hands and angular face, which is framed by her medium length dark hair.

The two children that have been entrusted to the teacher stand to the left in the picture, protected at her side, quietly immersed in their own worlds. The red bureau with the old counting device on it, along with the maroon tones of the children’s clothes , make Thines look luminous in her white coat. The portrait is painted on cardboard, and in many places, Laserstein allows the unprimed surface to show through as if to underscore the preschool teacher’s sincerity, earthy warmth, and integrity.

We do not know today how Lotte Laserstein and Thines Ahlcrona Ohlsén met, but it is possible that Thines took care of children from families whose portraits Laserstein painted in Malmö. The two became very close friends, and when Lotte decided to build a summer cottage on Öland in the 1950s, it was next to Thines and her husband Erik Ohlsén’s property.