Exhibited: The Nivaagaard Collection, “Venskabsportrætter fra Rom”, 2016, Cat. No. 51, mentioned p. 75, ill. p. 74.

Provenance: Circolo Scandinavo / Skandinavisk Forening i Rom (Inv. No. AI 24).

Robert Wilhelm Ekman began his education in his home country Finland, before going to Sweden with his brother to study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Here Ekman completed his education in 1836 and was afterwards rewarded a generous travelling grant for having excelled in his studies.

The grant financed Ekman's trip to Italy (1840–43), where he settled in Subiaco, not far from Rome. In Italy, Ekman often socialized with his Scandinavian colleagues as described in the catalogue “Venskabsportrætter fra Rom” (in Danish): “At local taverns in Rome, he met Scandinavian colleagues - even so often that several were reportedly worried about the Finnish artist's work” (p. 75).

The joy of life and the Italian surroundings is reflected not only in the present drawing by Ekman, but also in his painterly production, as he only produced a limited amount of paintings during his stay in Italy. In the present portrait, Ekman is depicted wearing a robe and a patterned hat sitting askew on the top of his head. With his eyes on the long pibe and his hand supporting his head, he looks very relaxed sitting in the chair.