He wins himself the admiration of two rich American collectors, while returning to Sweden to paint in the country.
Sweden
During a visit to St Ives in Cornwall, he starts painting in oils, then moves to Paris where commercial and artistic success await.
He resumes his travels, visiting Istanbul, Greece, Italy, then Algeria and Spain. Wonderful watercolours from there and at home in Sweden.
A brilliant watercolour painter as a student, he made a success of portraiture in Sweden and London. His early career to 1885.
One of the three great masters who took realist oil painting into the twentieth century: we commemorate the centenary of his death in August.
A succession of highly successful books, but around 1914 what he intended to be his masterpiece went terribly wrong.
Brought up in a Stockholm slum rife with cholera, Larsson went on to paint his family life in the idyllic Swedish home. Here’s how he started.
Two young women painters left Stockholm to study in Paris in 1883. Good friends, their paths diverged, but their paintings were full of light – including a real gem.
His watercolours proved very successful in a series of best-selling books. But the large mural paintings by which he hoped to be remembered were more of a problem.
His watercolours changed, losing their painterliness and defocus. They came to depict an idyllic, outdoor family life – an aspiration for so many in northern Europe.
