We're pleased to introducing a new collaboration between A Day's March and Swedish artist Jan Håfström, this time based entirely on the painting Skogen, hanging at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm.

We sat down with the artist to talk about the painting, and followed him as he saw it for the first time since 1987.

Jan Håfström, born 1937, is one of Sweden's most renowned contemporary artists. He began his artistic career in the 1960s, working in the spirit of Pop Art and drawing inspiration from comic strips and other media. Over the years, he has moved between figurative and abstract painting, created films and sculptures, and worked as a critic. To the broader public, he is perhaps best known for works centred on Mr Walker, the civilian alias of the Phantom comic strip character, which also exists as a sculpture in Railway Park by Stockholm Central Station. Håfström has participated in countless exhibitions in Sweden and abroad and has represented Sweden four times at the Venice Biennale.

The first collaboration, launched in 2022, revolved around the character Mr Walker. That collection included a limited-edition interpretation of the character's coat, signed by the artist, which has since been re-sold at art auctions. Skogen will likewise feature objects signed and hand-finished by Håfström himself.

Created nearly 60 years ago, Skogen had not been seen by the artist since the mid-1980s—until recently. The work is now on view again as part of the group exhibition The Underground Sky – Surrealism in the Moderna Museet Collection. Seeing the painting again was an emotional moment for Håfström.

"Skogen is another world. A place I once visited and to which I return in my dreams. One could call it a lost world, but for that very reason, it is so mysterious and alluring. I am never alone in a forest," says Jan Håfström.

"I don't believe in higher powers, but Jan Håfström often makes me doubt that. Strange things always seem to happen around Janne, with events falling into place in uncanny ways. Like the fact that Skogen, just in time for the launch of our project, has returned to public view at Moderna Museet—and that Janne himself was able to see his work again for the first time in over 40 years. To Janne, this all seems completely natural; to me, it's just as astonishing every time. Last time, we wanted to capture a broad sense of Jan's artistic universe. This time, we've chosen to go deep into a single work—the powerful and peculiar painting Skogen, which I have loved since I first saw it in an image. It's been a joy to once again work with Janne, who, as always, approached the project with great openness and curiosity, giving us the freedom to step into his world and into the forest," says Stefan Pagréus, co-founder of A Day's March.