Carl Larsson
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"Aftonrodnad" (Evening blush)
Signed C. Larsson and daterad 1887. Watercolour 56 x 77,5 cm.
Provenance
Acquired by Göteborgs Konstförening at the Konstnärsförbundet exhibition in Gothenburg in 1887 for 700 Swedish crowns
The collection of shipping magnate Anders Smith (c. 1945).
Bukowski Auktioner AB, Stockholm, auktion 552, "Internationella Vårauktionen", May 26 - 29, 2009, cat. no 85.
Exhibitions
Konstnärsförbundet, Göteborg, September 1 - October 31, 1887, cat. no 80.
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, "Opponenterna av 1885 - Utställning till sextioårsminnet av det första moderna genombrottet i svensk konst", March 16 - May 16, 1945, cat. no 312.
Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm, "Carl Larsson 100 år - Minnesutställning", 1953, cat. no 95 (titled "Aftonrodnad på flickans kind").
Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Schweiz, "Impressions du Nord: la peinture Scandinave 1800-1915", January 27 - May 22, 2005 (titled "Paysage avec figures").
Literature
Sixten Strömbom, "Konstnärsförbundets historia vol. I", 1945, mentioned p. 264.
"Carl Larsson -Skildrad av honom själv i text och bilder - En krönika sammanställd av Harriet och Sven Alfons", 1952, illustrated p. 123.
Ulwa Neergaard, "Carl Larsson, signerat med pensel och penna", 1999, mentioned p. 100 and listed in the catalogue supplement under the year 1887, cat. no 301.
More information
"At summertime we were with my sister-in-law Stina living a healthy outdoors life by Äppelviken (outside of Varberg), there we rented a cottage from the widow of a stone-cutter, with a little garden protected from the wind by a stone wall. We bathed together and played as if we were children. Suzanne jumped on the never-ending stones like a goat. Little Ulf preferred lying by his mother’s breast."
Carl Larsson is here describing the idyllic existence he spent at Äppelviken, near Varberg, during a couple of summer months in the late 1880s. It was here that he is said to have painted Aftonrodnad, a painting whose quiet garden scene seems to mirror the artist’s sense of well-being in the countryside. In the painting he depicts his wife Karin’s sister Stina standing in the lush garden looking with rosy cheeks towards the artist. At first you only see two people in the painting, but if you look closely the foot of a third figure is visible in the bottom right hand corner of the image.
When not at Äppelviken life was far from harmonious for the artist. In 1887 Larsson taught at Valand art school in Gothenburg and amongst his students were Albert Engström and Carl Wilhelmson. As per usual the students were not very well off, and Larsson helped out as much as he could – a generosity that was impressive given Larsson’s own financial situation. The artist recalled his circumstances in his memoir Jag: “I was penniless: it was not the glory days I thought myself being so close to. My new and wealthy acquaintances in Gothenburg invited me to parties – the most extravagant kind, but any purchases or commissions were hard to come by”.
In other words it wasn’t the easy life for the Larsson family at this time, far from the idyllic existence at Sundborn, which has later come to be so associated with Carl, Karin and their children. However it was, fortunately, in no way a joyless life. The relatively recently newly-wed couple had by now begun to create a family and each day they could rejoice in their first-born child. At Äppelviken they were able to spend time together quietly and in "Aftonrodnad" you get a real insight into the peace of mind that Larsson felt there.
Artist
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.
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