Esaias Thorén and Sven Jonson both grew up in Halmstad, where they formed the group De unga, the young, who studied and exhibited together. Jonson’s painting of his friend Thorén resembles Renaissance profile portraits. However, the clothing and hint of city architecture place the work in 1920s modernism. Later, both artists and four colleagues founded Halmstadgruppen, the Halmstad group, which became well-known in Swedish surrealism.