Carl Larsson
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The garden in Sundborn
Study for "De mina". Signed C.L. Executed 1892. Canvas 64 x 92 cm.
Provenance
Gift from the artist to Nils Wahlman in the 1910s.
Exhibitions
Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm, "Carl Larsson. Minnesutställning", March 6 - April 5, 1920, cat. no. 88
Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm, "Carl Larsson 100 år - Minnesutställning", 1953, cat. no 392
Literature
Ulwa Neergaard, "Carl Larsson, signerat med pensel och penna", 1999, illustrated in colours p. 145 and listed in catalogue, p. 50 cat. no 511.
More information
The summer of 1892 was rainy and cold for Carl Larsson and his family in Sundborn. This is how the artist describes it:
"And then you ask about the 'harvest'! Oh dear, it's just pitiful! [...] Damn what a summer! The days fall away, one after the other. In the morning you jump in the lake, eat your oatmeal and look at every flower and leaf on the property, if they have grown during the night. Then with an easel and stuff you go out to the motif. Then dinner at half past 2. Then draw an illustration until 5 o'clock, then comes a cup of coffee with dip."
The painting in question was probably executed during this rainy summer, which may explain the cloudy sky and the muted color scheme used by the artist. We see here a tranquil depiction of the family's cottage and farm in Sundborn where they had lived since 1889. In the quote above, he describes how, after his morning swim and porridge breakfast, he goes out with his easel and starts painting. It is easy to imagine how the auction's painting was created during these morning moments.
Carl Larsson would later use the painting as a model for the more famous work "De mina" where the artist has painted the family in front of the house.
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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