Editing Carl Larsson

{{Short description|Swedish painter (1853–1919)}}
{{similar names|Carl Larson (disambiguation){{!}}Carl Larson|Karl Larsson (disambiguation){{!}}Karl Larsson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Carl Larsson
| image            = Larsson - Self Portrait.jpg
| image_size       =
| caption          = Self-portrait, 1895
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1853|5|28|df=y}}<ref name=clg />
| birth_place      = [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1919|1|22|1853|5|28|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Falun]], Sweden
| field            = {{hlist|Painting|writing}}
| movement         = 
| spouse           = [[Karin Bergöö Larsson|Karin Larsson]]
| patrons          = 
| influenced       = 
| awards           = 
| module           = {{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature        = Carl Larsson signature.svg}}
| education        = [[Royal Swedish Academy of Arts]]
}}
[[File:Carl Larsson - Self-Portrait (In the new studio) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|Self-Portrait in the new studio]]

'''Carl Olof Larsson''' ({{IPA|sv|ˈkɑːɭ ˈlɑ̌ːʂɔn|-|Sv-Carl Larsson.ogg}}; 28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the [[Arts and Crafts movement]]. His many paintings include oils, [[watercolor]]s, and [[fresco]]es. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life. He considered his finest work to be ''[[Midvinterblot]]'' (''Midwinter Sacrifice''), a large painting now displayed inside the [[Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://emp-web-84.zetcom.ch/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=artist&objectId=3877 |title=Carl Olof Larsson |publisher=nationalmuseum |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref name=sbl>{{cite web |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=11035 |title=Carl O Larsson |publisher=Svenskt biografiskt lexikon |author=Brita Linde |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

== 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>

== Paintings ==
[[File:Atelje-idyll Konstnärens hustru med dottern Suzanne av Carl Larsson 1885.jpg|thumb|A studio idyll depicting the artist's wife with their first child, Suzanne]]

Larsson's popularity increased considerably with the development of colour reproduction technology in the 1890s, when the Swedish publisher Bonnier published books written and illustrated by Larsson and containing full colour reproductions of his watercolours, titled ''A Home''. However, the print runs of these rather expensive albums did not come close to that produced in 1909 by the German publisher [[Karl Robert Langewiesche]] (1874–1931). Langewiesche's choice of watercolours, drawings and text by Carl Larsson, titled ''Das Haus in der Sonne'' (Königstein, Verlag Karl Robert Langewiesche. 1909), immediately became one of the German publishing industry's best-sellers of the year—40,000 copies sold in three months, and more than 40 print runs have been produced up to 2001. Carl and Karin Larsson declared themselves overwhelmed by such success.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenthreadrarebooks.com/products/das-haus-in-der-sonne-illustrated-by-carl-larsson |title=Das Haus In Der Sonne illustrated by Carl Larsson |publisher=Golden Thread Rare Books |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

Carl Larsson considered his monumental works, such as his frescos in schools, museums and other public buildings, to be his most important works. His last monumental work, ''[[Midvinterblot]]'' (''[[Yule|Midwinter]] Sacrifice''), a {{convert|6|x|14|m|ft|adj=on}} oil painting completed in 1915, had been commissioned for a wall in the [[Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts|National Museum]] in Stockholm (which already had several of his frescos adorning its walls). However, upon completion, it was rejected by the board of the museum. The fresco depicts the [[blót]] of King [[Domalde]] at the [[Temple of Uppsala]]. Decades later, the painting was purchased and placed in the National Museum.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://curiator.com/art/carl-larsson/midvinterblot-midwinter-sacrifice |title=Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice), 1915 by Carl Larsson |publisher=curiator.com |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

=== ''Midvinterblot'' ===
{{Main|Midvinterblot}}
[[File:Nationalmuseum trappa 2008b.jpg|thumb|''Midvinterblot'' <br />Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (1915)]]
In his memoirs ''Jag'' (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 1931) – published after Larsson's death – he declared his bitterness and disappointment over this rejection of the painting he himself considered to be his greatest achievement: "The fate of ''Midvinterblot'' broke me! This I admit with a dark anger. And still, it was probably the best thing that could have happened, because my intuition tells me – once again! – that this painting, with all its weaknesses, will one day, when I'm gone, be honoured with a far better placement." Larsson admitted, however, in the same memoirs <!-- (chapter "Artist of the Home") --> that the pictures of his family and home "became the most immediate and lasting part of my life's work. For these pictures are of course a very genuine expression of my personality, of my deepest feelings, of all my limitless love for my wife and children."{{quote without source|date=August 2023}}

Fights between different schools of Swedish artists caused the "Midvinterblot" controversy to continue for many years. In 1987 the museum was even offered the monumental painting for free, provided it would adorn the empty wall for which it had been intended, but the museum declined the offer, so the painting was sold to the Japanese collector [[Hiroshi Ishizuka]]. In 1992, he agreed to lend it to the museum for its major Carl Larsson exhibition, where it was hung in the intended place. Public appreciation changed the experts' view of the painting, and with the help of private donations the museum was able to buy it from Ishizuka in 1997 and permanently display it in the location for which it was intended.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eclecticlight.co/2015/11/22/carl-larsson-how-a-loved-and-popular-painter-became-lost-in-controversy/ |title=Carl Larsson: how a loved and popular painter became lost in controversy |publisher=eclecticlight.co |date=22 November 2015 |access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

=== Gallery ===
<gallery widths="154px" heights="200px" perrow="5">
File:Martina med frukostbrickan.JPG|''Martina with the breakfast tray'', watercolor, 1904
File:Carl Larsson Brita as Iduna.jpg|''Brita as [[Iðunn|Iduna]]'', lithograph, 1901
File:Kurragömma.jpg|''Hide and Seek'', 1898
File:BritaAndI Selfportrait.jpg|Self-portrait with Brita, watercolor, 1895
File:Carl Larsson - Self Portrait.png|''Self-portrait'', oil on canvas, 1906
</gallery>
<gallery widths="200px" heights="154px" perrow="3">
File:Mammas och småflickornas rum av Carl Larsson 1897.jpg|''Mamma's and the small girls' room'', watercolor, 1897
File:Namnsdag på härbret av Carl Larsson 1898.jpg|''Nameday at the storage house'', watercolor, 1897
File:The Kitchen. From A Home (26 watercolours) (Carl Larsson) - Nationalmuseum - 24211.tif|''The kitchen'', watercolor, c. 1898
File:Crayfishing._From_A_Home_(26_watercolours)_(Carl_Larsson)_-_Nationalmuseum_-_24219.tif|''Crayfishing'', watercolor, c. 1898
File:Carl Larsson Azalea Thielska 215.tif|''Azalea'', 1906
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
*1895: ''De mina.'' (''My Loved Ones'') {{ISBN|91-0-048339-7}}
*1899: ''Ett hem'' (''A Home'') {{ISBN|0-399-20400-8}} and {{ISBN|0-86315-549-9}}
*1902: ''Larssons'' (''The Larssons'') {{ISBN|91-85500-22-4}}
*1906: ''Spadarfvet – mitt lilla lantbruk'' (''A Farm'') {{ISBN|0-399-20541-1}}
*1910: ''Åt solsidan'' (''On the Sunny Side'') ({{ISBN|91-85500-24-0}} and {{ISBN|1-870180-01-1}}
*1913: ''Andras barn'' (''Other People's Children'') {{ISBN|91-49-04335-8}}
*1931: ''Jag'' (''I'', ''Carl Larsson'') (autobiography) {{ISBN|0-941016-91-9}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[Anders Zorn]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Additional sources ===
*{{cite book |first=Hans-Curt |last=Köster |title=The World of Carl Larsson |publisher=Penfield Books |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-932043-21-1}}
*{{cite book |first=Carl |last=Larsson |title=A Family: Paintings from a Bygone Age |publisher=Floris Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-86315-583-3}}
*{{cite book |first=Carl |last=Larsson |title=A Farm: Paintings from a Bygone Age |publisher=Floris Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-86315-630-4}}
*{{cite book |first=Carl |last=Larsson |title=A Home: Paintings from a Bygone Age |publisher=Floris Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-86315-549-9}}
*{{cite book |first=Carl |last=Larsson |title=Home: Through the Paintings of Carl Larsson |publisher=Laughing Elephant |year=2006 |isbn=1-59583-056-1}}
*{{cite book |first1=Michael |last1=Snodin |first2=Elisabet |last2=Hidemark |title=Carl and Karin Larsson: Creators of Swedish Style |publisher=Bullfinch |year=2001 |isbn=0-8212-2713-0}}
*[[Michelle Facos|Facos, Michelle]]. “The Ideal Swedish Home: Carl Larsson’s Lilla Hyttnäs,” in ''Not at Home: The Suppression of Domesticity in Modern Art and Architecture'', Christopher Reed, ed. (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996), 81–91.
*Cumming, Elizabeth; Kaplan, Wendy (1991). ''Arts & Crafts Movement'' (London: Thames & Hudson) {{ISBN|0-500-20248-6}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Carl Larsson}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=42221| name=Carl Larsson}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Larsson, Carl|name=Carl Larsson (illustrator)|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Carl Larsson}}
*[http://www.clg.se/ The Carl and Karin Larsson Family Association]
*[http://www.eyegate.com/showgal.php?id=34 Carl Larsson Eyegate Gallery]
*{{Find a Grave|8167924|accessdate=12 September 2010}}
*[http://www.carllarsson.se/en/ Carl Larsson-gården website]
{{Authority control (arts)|country=SV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Carl}}
[[Category:1853 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:Painters from Stockholm]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish painters]]
[[Category:Swedish male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Swedish painters]]
[[Category:Swedish illustrators]]
[[Category:Swedish graphic designers]]
[[Category:Arts and Crafts movement artists]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century Swedish male artists]]