Carl Larsson

Sold by the artist to the art dealer N. Hammarström in Gothenburg for SEK 1,500 in May 1913; the Pontus Fürstenberg collection, Gothenburg; Whole sale dealer H. Fürstenberg; Miss Mona Hahr, Gothenburg; Bukowski Auktioner, Stockholm, Sale 434, ”Bukowski kvällsauktioner”, 28 October 1985, lot 14; private collection (acquired at the above sale).

(Probably. Based on Ulwa Neergaard’s list over exhibitions where the series ”Åt solsidan” was on display) Gothenburg, Sweden, 1909; Internationale Kunstausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, June – end of October 1909; Ed. Schultes Kunstsalon, Berlin, November 1909; Stockholm, May 1910 (based on information from Georg Nordensvan the series "Åt solsidan" was exhibited at that time); Konstföreningens för södra Sverige Carl Larsson-utställning, Malmö, Sweden, 1910; Ausstellung schwed. Künstler im Künstlerbund Hagen, Vienna, September 1910; Esposizione internazionale d'arte, Rome, March - November 1911; Larensche Kunsthandel, Amsterdam, September 1912; The Carl Larsson exhibition in Helsinki and Turku (probably January and February) 1913; The Art Exhibition in Hudiksvall, Sweden, 15 June - 31 July 1913; The Baltic Exhibition, Malmö, Sweden, 15 May - 4 October 1914.

Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, ”Invigningsutställning. Larsson-Liljefors-Zorn”, March – April 1916, no. 75; Swedish Art Exhibition Charlottenberg in Copenhagen, Nov – Dec 1916, no. 450; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, ”Carl Larsson. Minnesutställning”, 6 March – 5 April 1920, no. 231; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, “Carl Larsson. Minnesutställning”, 1953, no. 302; Gothenburg Art Museum, ”Carl Larsson”, April 1971, no. 84.

The composition was one of the full page illustrations in colour in the publication "Åt solsidan", originally published in 1910; Ernst Malmberg, ”Larsson-Liljefors-Zorn. En återblick”, 1919, mentioned p. 34; Ulwa Neergaard, "Carl Larsson. Signerat med pensel och penna", 1999, illustrated in colour p. 413 and catalogued under year 1908, p. 117, no. 1277.

Carl Larsson is considered one of the greatest Swedish artists of all time. He was born in Gamla Stan in Stockholm and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in the years 1866-76. After his studies in Stockholm, he traveled to France and settled in Grèz-sur-Loing. There he mainly painted garden motifs. In France, he met his future wife Karin Bergöö, who was also an artist and came to mean a lot for his artistry. Already during his student years, he made a living as a photo retoucher and cartoonist in the press. It was also during his studies that Larsson got to know Anders Zorn and Bruno Liljefors, together the three are usually called the ABC artists. At the end of the 1880s, Carl and Karin were given "Lilla Hyttnäs" in Sundborn outside Falun by Karin's father, and this is where Larsson's most famous watercolors depicting his family were created. The motifs often depict sunny landscapes with children, crayfish fishing, meals in the green and interior scenes. Larsson is represented, among other, in the National Museum, where "Gustav Vasas intåg i Stockholm" and "Midvinterblot" fills the stairwell. Represented mainly at the National Museum in Stockholm and at the Gothenburg Art Museum.