John Bauer
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"Humpe"
Signed JB. Foundry mark Herm. Bergman fud. Bronze, brown patina. Height 10.5 cm.
Literature
Harald Schiller, "John Bauer - sagotecknaren", SAK, 1935, compare illustration p. 115.
More information
In Bauer's artistic fairy-tale world, fantasy creatures in forest settings are already present at the turn of the century, where the artist creates his fairy beings from simple elements in nature, such as boulders and trees. One of the most popular tales in the 1912 edition of "Bland tomtar och troll" (Among Gnomes and Trolls) is Vilhälm Nordin's " Trollsonen som hade solglasögon och blev skogsman”.The story recounts the tale of the troll mother Humpa, who, with her gentle nature, differs from the other trolls in the forest. Her red-haired son, Humpe, is also unique. His eyes are not red and swollen like the other trolls; instead, they are large and clear "with a sun glint to boot." Thanks to his sunglasses, Humpe can later leave the constant darkness of the troll forest and "live the bright life of the day in the free forest, feared by the trolls but loved by all that belongs to the sun." Swedish nature is animated through Bauer's art, emerging as a mythic primal force that nevertheless bears traces of the artist's contemporary influences, such as the palpable impact of Japonism and the Northern European Art Nouveau style.
Artist
John Bauer was born in 1882 and was a Swedish artist, primarily renowned for his paintings and illustrations in the early editions of the fairy tale collection "Bland tomtar och troll”. Thanks to his magical illustrations of princesses, trolls, and giants, Bauer has significantly influenced our perception of creatures and mythical figures in traditional Swedish stories and Nordic folklore.
Bauer grew up in Jönköping, and a large part of his artistry was inspired by the mystical forests of Småland, where trolls and other beings seemed to emerge from the rocky outcrops. During his years of study, he was fascinated by early German and Italian painting but soon returned to the Swedish fairytale forest. At the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, he met his future wife, Esther Ellqvist, who often posed as a model and served as inspiration for the princess Tuvstarr in Bauer's works.
Most of Bauer's paintings are created using watercolors, although he has also produced some using oil. By the 1910s, thanks to his fairy tale paintings, Bauer was already an established and beloved artist when he chose to conclude his role as a fairy tale illustrator. In his final years, he explored other imaginative expressions that would shape Bauer's last works, such as "The Dancing Nymphs" and "Blue Eva". John Bauer's final significant painting was created for the auditorium at Karlskrona Girls' School in 1917, an oil painting depicting the goddess Freja, with his wife Esther as a model.
The entire Bauer-Ellqvist family died in a boat accident when the steamer Per Brahe sank during an autumn storm on Vättern on November 20, 1918.