A succession of highly successful books, but around 1914 what he intended to be his masterpiece went terribly wrong.
Sweden
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.
Known best for his watercolours of his wife and family in their ideal and idyllic Swedish home, his work is far richer and more varied.
The monumental mural painted by Larsson was intended to be his greatest painting. It turned out to be his most controversial.
Anders Zorn earned a high reputation during his glittering career; although today he is perhaps more widely known for his buxom country-girl nudes, he is a painter’s painter.
