Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn was a great admirer of Rembrandt, who, alongside Velásquez, was to become his favorite of the Old Masters. Zorn's collection of Rembrandt etchings amounted to over 180 sheets and was the largest private collection in Sweden. In Anders and Emma Zorn's combined studio and home in Paris, there was also a portrait of the master's father. According to Zorn, it was a genuine Rembrandt. Per Svensson writes in “Zorn - a life, a time”: “The choice of paintings says something about the image of himself that Anders Zorn wanted to convey: He was a modern painter but at the same time a tradition-conscious heir to the old masters.”

In the summer of 1896, Emma and Anders Zorn moved to Mora, in Sweden, after eight years in Paris. One of Zorn's great ambitions in life was to preserve the culture of Dalarna and to protect it from the excessive changes of industrialism. In his paintings from Mora and the surrounding area, there is often a concern for traditions, for example by bringing out the cultural uniqueness of the folk costumes and thus paying tribute to the people for holding on to their unique history.

In the winter of 1906 Anders Zorn was very busy and painted many portraits. In his autobiographical notes, Zorn writes: “I etched and painted the exceptionally beautiful Mrs. Granberg. Delsbostintan, who had to rest on her journey between Hedemora and Falun, Bull Liljevalchs, which I painted on Ernest Cassel's commission and at the same time received an order from the former to paint the latter.”
In the auction's portrait, we meet Delsbostintan dressed in the traditional village costume from Hälsingland. The portrait bears many similarities to Rembrandt's “The Kitchen Maid” in the National Museum's collection in Stockholm, which is considered by many to be one of Rembrandt's most representative works. The warm tones of red, brown and yellow and the vivid depiction of the girl make it one of his true masterpieces.
The portrait of Delsbostintan, in clare-obscure and dramatic lighting, is characterized by a calm stillness, which at the same time expresses the closeness between the artist and his model. The famous artist Zorn has captured a brief moment of an everyday moment, a pause on the journey. The vital apparition of the Delsbostintan against the black background, the play of light across her rosy cheeks with the small dimple, testifies to the artist's superb skill as a portrait painter, but also to his admiration for the master Rembrandt.

See picture Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, "Kökspigan" , ref. NM584