Editing Carl Larsson (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life and education ===
Larsson was born on 28 May 1853, in the [[Gamla stan]] neighborhood of [[Stockholm]], Sweden.<ref name="clg">"The official homepage of the artist Carl Larsson", Carl and Karin Larsson Family Association, 2007, [http://www.clg.se/encarl.aspx clg.se] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719033011/http://www.clg.se/encarl.aspx |date=19 July 2010 }}</ref> His parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy.

Renate Puvogel, in her book ''Carl Larsson'' (Cologne: [[Taschen]]; 1994), gives detailed information about Larsson's life: "His mother was thrown out of the house, together with Carl and his brother Johan; after enduring a series of temporary dwellings, the family moved into Grev Magnigränd No. 7 (later No. 5) in what was then Ladugårdsplan, present-day [[Östermalm]]".<ref name="Renate" /> As a rule, each room was home to three families; "penury, filth and vice thrived there, leisurely seethed and smouldered, eaten-away and rotten bodies and souls. Such an environment is the natural breeding ground for [[cholera]]", he wrote in his autobiographical novel ''Jag''.<ref>Jag, Stockholm, 1931, p.&nbsp;21</ref>

Larsson's father worked as a casual laborer, sailed as a stoker on a ship headed for Scandinavia, and lost the lease to a nearby mill, only to work there later as a mere grain carrier. Larsson portrays him as a loveless man lacking self-control; he drank, ranted and raved, and incurred the lifelong anger of his son after an outburst in which he declared, "I curse the day you were born". In contrast, Carl's mother worked long hours as a laundress to provide for her family.<ref name=Renate>Puvogel Renate (1994) ''Carl Larsson'' (Cologne: Taschen; 1994) {{ISBN|978-3822885727}}</ref>

However, at the age of thirteen, his teacher at the school for poor children urged him to apply to the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Arts]], and he was admitted. During his first years there, Larsson felt socially inferior, confused, and shy.<ref name=clg /> In 1869, at the age of sixteen, he was promoted to the "antique school" of the same academy. There Larsson gained confidence, and even became a central figure in student life. Carl earned his first medal in nude drawing. In the meantime, Larsson worked as a caricaturist for the humorous paper ''Kasper'' and as a graphic artist for the newspaper '' Ny Illustrerad Tidning''. His annual wages were sufficient to allow him to help support his parents financially.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://renownedart.com/artist.php?a=Carl+Larsson |title=Carl Larsson, Biography |publisher=Renowned Artists |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://runeberg.org/nfbt/0126.html |title=Ny illustrerad tidning |publisher=Nordisk familjebok |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

=== Career ===
After several years working as an illustrator of books, magazines, and newspapers, Larsson moved to Paris in 1877, where he spent several frustrating years as a hardworking artist without any success. Larsson was not eager to establish contact with the French progressive [[Impressionism|Impressionists]]; instead, along with other Swedish artists, he cut himself off from the radical movement of change.<ref name="sbl" />

After spending two summers in [[Barbizon]], the refuge of the [[plein-air]] painters, he settled down with his Swedish painter colleagues in 1882, in [[Grez-sur-Loing]] at a Scandinavian artists' colony outside Paris. It was there that he met the artist [[Karin Bergöö Larsson|Karin Bergöö]] (1859–1928), who soon became his wife. This was to be a turning point in Larsson's life. In Grez, Larsson painted some of his most important works, now in [[watercolour]] and very different from the oil painting technique he had previously employed.<ref name="sbl" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://skbl.se/sv/artikel/KarinLarsson |title=Karin Larsson |publisher=Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon |author=Ingrid Zakrisson |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson, 1897, NGA 33241.jpg|thumb|left|Anders Zorn, ''Carl Larsson'', 1897]]
Carl and Karin Larsson had eight children: Suzanne (b. 1884), Ulf (b. 1887), Pontus (b. 1888), Lisbeth (b. 1891), Brita (b. 1893), Mats (b. 1894), Kersti (b. 1896) and Esbjörn (b. 1900). His family became Larsson's favourite models. Many of the interiors depicted were the work of Karin Larsson, who also worked as an [[interior design]]er.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://owlcation.com/humanities/Carl-Larsson--Master-Illustrator--and-Painter-of-Children-and-Family-Life |title=The Life and Paintings of Swedish Artist and Illustrator, Carl Larsson |publisher=owlcation.com |author=Amanda Severn |date=18 December 2017 |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

In 1888, the young family was given a small house named Lilla Hyttnäs at [[Sundborn]] just outside Falun in [[Dalarna County|Dalarna]] by Karin's father Adolf Bergöö (1828–1890). Carl and Karin decorated and furnished this house according to their particular artistic taste and also for the needs of the growing family. Through his paintings and books, Little Hyttnäs has become one of the most famous artist's homes in the world, transmitting the artistic taste of its creators and making it a major line in Swedish interior design. The descendants of Carl and Karin Larsson now own this house, now known as [[Carl Larsson-gården]], and keep it open for tourists each summer from May until October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.karinforeningen.se/adolf-bergoo/ |title=Köpmannen Adolf Bergöö – Karins pappa |publisher=Karin Bergöö Larssons vänner |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carllarsson.se/en/garden/ |title=Carl Larsson-gården – One of the world's best known and most depicted artist's homes |publisher=Carl Larsson-gården |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

In his later years he suffered from bouts of depression.<ref>Linde, Brita. "Larsson, Carl." ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web.</ref> While working on ''[[Midvinterblot]]'' (1915), a large decoration for the vestibule of the [[Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts|Nationalmuseum]], Larsson experienced the onset of an eye problem and a worsening of his frequent headaches.<ref name="Carl">Carl, Klaus H. ''Carl Larsson'', Parkstone Press. 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-78310-585-4}}</ref> After suffering a mild stroke in January 1919, he spent his remaining time completing his memoirs.<ref name="Carl" /> He died later that month in [[Falun]] and was buried in the cemetery of Sundborn Church (''Sundborns kyrka'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/midwinter-s-sacrifice/FgHwZjBuY9GDjA |title='' Midvinterblot '' |publisher=Google Arts and Culture |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carllarsson.se/varens-program-2019/2692-2/ |title=Minneskonsert Sundborns kyrka |publisher=Carl Larsson-gården |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>