Pontus

Carl Larsson prints bring the light, colour and easy family life of a Swedish country home onto your walls. Larsson was a painter of the Arts and Crafts movement whose watercolours of his wife Karin, their eight children and their house at Sundborn helped shape Swedish style. Our collection of fine art prints covers his family scenes, interiors, garden pictures, portraits, illustrations and studies for his large public murals.

About Carl Larsson

Carl Olof Larsson was born on 28 May 1853 in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm. His parents were very poor and his childhood was unhappy; his mother worked long hours as a laundress to keep the family going. At thirteen a teacher at his school for poor children urged him to apply to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, and he was accepted. While studying he worked as a caricaturist and newspaper illustrator, earning enough to help his parents.

In 1877 he moved to Paris, where several hard years brought little success. Summers at Barbizon led him in 1882 to the Scandinavian artists' colony at Grez-sur-Loing, where he met the painter Karin Bergöö. They married in 1883, and at Grez he began to work in watercolour, the medium that would make his name. Back in Sweden he directed the Valand art school in Gothenburg from 1886 to 1891.

In 1888 Karin's father gave the couple a small house, Lilla Hyttnäs, at Sundborn near Falun. Carl and Karin furnished and decorated it to their own taste, and Karin designed many of the textiles and interiors he painted. His books of watercolours of the house, starting with A Home (1899), and the German edition Das Haus in der Sonne (1909), which sold 40,000 copies in three months, made it one of the most famous artist's homes in the world.

Larsson thought his public murals were his most important work. His last, Midwinter Sacrifice, finished in 1915 for the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, was rejected by the museum board and only acquired decades later. In his final years he suffered from depression and eye trouble, and after a mild stroke he died in Falun in January 1919.

Style and Subjects

Larsson's best-loved pictures are watercolours with clear outlines and fresh, light colours, close in spirit to book illustration. They show everyday moments: children at breakfast, Karin sewing, a cosy corner of the living room, a summer meal under the birch trees. The rooms themselves, with their painted furniture, striped textiles and red-and-green woodwork, are as much the subject as the people.

He also painted portraits of friends and patrons, oils of Stockholm and Paris, and large historical murals full of costume and pageantry.

Famous Works

• Interior of the Fürstenberg Gallery (1885), Gothenburg Museum of Art. A view of the private gallery of his patron Pontus Fürstenberg.
• Around the Evening Lamp (1900), Thiel Gallery, Stockholm. The family gathered in lamplight, one of his most intimate interiors.
• Getting Ready for a Game (1901), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. A lively everyday scene from the Larsson household.
• Breakfast under the Big Birch. The family eats outdoors under a tall birch at Sundborn.
• Karin by the Shore (1908), Malmö Art Museum. His wife resting by the water on a bright summer day.
• The Entry of King Gustav Vasa of Sweden into Stockholm, 1523 (1908), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. A grand historical mural for the museum's staircase.
• Midwinter Sacrifice (Midvinterblot) (1915), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. His 6-by-14-metre mural of the legendary King Domalde, which he called his finest work.

Decorating with Larsson Prints

Larsson's family interiors were made for homes, and they look most at ease in kitchens, dining rooms and family rooms. The Kitchen or Cosy Corner suit Scandinavian, cottage and farmhouse styles, especially with pale wood, white walls and soft reds and greens.

The pictures of the children make warm choices for a nursery or child's room, and the garden and lakeside scenes bring summer light to a sunroom or porch. His portraits and Paris pictures fit a study or hallway.

FAQ

What art movement was Carl Larsson part of?

Larsson is linked with the Arts and Crafts movement. His watercolours of his home at Sundborn, and the interiors he and his wife Karin created there, became a major source of Swedish interior style.

What is Carl Larsson's most famous work?

His most popular pictures are his watercolours of family life at Sundborn, such as Around the Evening Lamp. Larsson himself considered the mural Midwinter Sacrifice (1915) his finest work.

Can you visit Carl Larsson's house?

Yes. The house at Sundborn, now called Carl Larsson-gården, is owned by the family's descendants and opens to visitors each summer from May to October.

Who was Karin Larsson?

Karin Bergöö Larsson was a painter and designer who married Carl in 1883. She designed much of the furniture, textiles and decoration seen in his paintings of their home.

Where can I see Larsson's paintings?

The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has many works, including his murals. Others are in the Thiel Gallery, the Gothenburg Museum of Art and the Malmö Art Museum.

Related Artists

• Anders Zorn: Swedish painter of the same generation, linked with Larsson on his Wikipedia page
• Bruno Liljefors: Swedish painter of the same generation, known for nature and wildlife
• Richard Bergh: Swedish painter of the same generation
• Ernst Josephson: leading Swedish painter of the same generation
• Karl Nordström: Swedish landscape painter of the same generation