Karin Parrow

Karin Parrow (née Taube) studied for Tor Bjurström at Valand in Gothenburg during the 1920s and exhibited regularly with her peers. Among this group were Ragnar Sandberg, Ivan Ivarson, Inge Schiöler, and Åke Göransson, the artists most commonly associated with Gothenburg Colourism.

Karin Parrow was born on the island of Vinga outside Gothenburg. Among the thirteen children in her family were her older brother Evert Taube (born 1890) and Märta (born 1888). In artistic contexts, Karin Parrow chose not to benefit from her maiden name or the relationship with her famous brother.

For Karin Parrow, as for the other Gothenburg Colourists, color was the primary mean of expression. Painting was to capture and convey visual, olfactory, and tactile impressions. In her paintings, she combined what she actually saw with what she knew about the subject. Rules of perspective were set aside in favor of expression and the overall impact of the image. Color was used to describe a state of mind rather than to narrate, depict, or distinguish.

Karin Parrow was strongly influenced by her colleague Ivan Ivarson's style of painting, which she transformed into an expressive view of nature. Her later paintings show more subdued colors as she depicts landscapes and folk life.

In recent years, the Sandgrund Art Gallery has exhibited Gothenburg Colourists such as Inge Schiöler, Åke Göransson, and Ragnar Sandberg. The gallery's owner, artist Lars Lerin, is very excited about exhibiting the Gothenburg Colourists, he says in an interview in NWT Karlstad on August 25, 2022:

"Lars Lerin thinks that the Gothenburg Colourists hold up well, regardless of how trends in art change. They are classics of the 20th century. They are always present, unaffected by the rise and fall of the market; they are Swedish art history. It's among the finest things you can see in painting," he says, adding that many artists have embraced and been inspired by them. Lars Lerin already has plans for more exhibitions in the same spirit at Sandgrund in Karlstad. He mentions two Gothenburg Colourists, Ivan Ivarson and Karin Parrow (sister to Evert Taube), but also Erling Ärlingsson and Sven X:et Erixson.”