Monday, December 2, 2013

Carl Larsson talks about Zorn


Carl Larsson (second from left) and Anders Zorn (right)
Anders Zorn's contemporary Carl Larsson said that when he sat as a model for the great portraitist, Zorn "glared at him as if he would eat him up." 

Anders Zorn, Self Portrait
Biographer Karl Asplund said in 1921: "With Zorn it was not a question of the jargon of the studio, with its talk of 'the emancipation of art.' In the depth of his heart he would rather conquer the subject, retain it, explain it, and communicate to others in his own way the pleasure his eyes had experienced."

Anders Zorn, Self Portrait
According to Aslplund, "He did not care to talk about the theory of art; his theory was simple enough. He once explained to me the joy he felt in revealing the beauty of a subject through his brush, in making the spectator stop and look at Nature in a new way, a Nature more rich and beautiful —more 'Zornesque.'"
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From Karl Asplund's 1921 book, Anders Zorn: His Life And Work
There's a new catalog available that I will soon be reviewing.

2 comments:

David Still said...

I think I can sympathise with that viewpoint. Certain artists might want to show nature as it is, or else depict something that isn't natural at all. I find myself more and more drawn to the more mannered and stylized versions of realism - nature as it should be (according to the artist).

Dave Brasgalla said...

That's artist Albert Engström on the left in that photo (who did beautiful work) and Karin Larsson in between Carl and Zorn - a wonderful artist and designer who is finally beginning to get her due here in Sweden. Karin Larsson's World by Lena Rydin is a recently published book that I recommend if you're interested in the other half of this famous artistic couple.



Back to Zorn, ever you get the chance to see his work in person - take it! As impressive as it is, it's even more stunning up close...