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Anders Zorn: Sweden's Master Painter
Accompanying a major retrospective of Anders Zorn’s work, this is the first volume in English to explore the Swedish Impressionist’s entire career in depth. Anders Zorn (1860–1920) is one of Sweden’s most accomplished and beloved artists. Renowned for his light, expressive watercolors, he attained mastery of the genre at an early age and later applied his techniques to oil painting. Zorn is often compared with the artists John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, contemporaries who also were known for their portraits of high-society figures. Taking up residence in London and then in Paris, Zorn established himself as an international portrait painter, depicting fashionable clients in a style both elegant and relaxed. He became a favorite among wealthy American collectors, bankers, and industrialists who sat for him, including art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner and three U.S. presidents. Although perhaps best known for his portraits, Zorn brought equal skill to painting genre scenes and views of nature. This handsome volume provides a thorough introduction to the artist and his works, from portraiture to landscapes and his famous nudes. Four illustrated essays are accompanied by a chronology, selected bibliography, an exhibition checklist, and an index.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 11, 2017
Anders Zorn is an artist close to my heart who has followed me from early childhood.
He grew up in Dalarna, a Swedish landscape with strong folklorist traditions, deep forests, glittering lakes and conservative rural villages and small towns. I lived there myself as a child, learned to speak the typical dialect, and to appreciate the special smell, touch and feel of a world apart, remote and wild and proud of its heritage.
Zorn left his childhood surroundings behind to enter the stage of international art and social life (marrying a progressive, strong and independent woman opened the door to Stockholm's peculiar environment), and his adaptability and incredible artistic talent soon made him move with ease in the most diverse surroundings.
His first artistic successes were based on his watercolour technique, which he used to capture the everyday scenes in his artistic environment and on his extensive travels, always using colour and setting to create an intimate, direct relationship to the models or objects he chose to present.
Celebrating success at home was not enough for his ambitious, driven personality, and Zorn launched a career in London, Paris, and most notably in the United States, where he made a fortune as a portrait painter. The power of facial expression, posture and colour is equally effective when painting American socialites - from a "Dalkulla" in the Swedish forest to a lady in the new world, just a brush stroke's journey.
Being an outgoing, career oriented artist, Zorn also faced criticism, especially at home, and his nudes painted in nature were not always easy to stomach in the official, prudish Swedish society either. Zorn openly celebrated sensuality without hiding it within mythological or religious narratives. His bad temper and impatience brought him trouble on numerous occasions as well. He lived an intensive life and burned the candle at both ends.
Like his friend and contemporary Carl Larsson, he built a refuge for himself and his wife in his native Dalarna, and settled in Mora, a traditional small town at the shores of Lake Siljan. His home still hosts his collections, and a considerable number of his own works. To reach the Zorn Museum from any of the bigger Swedish cities, a visitor has to travel for hours through the forests that shaped Zorn's eye for colour and form, and for natural beauty.
At the end of his career, already marked by illness, Zorn painted a self portrait in his favoured colour red, showing the man of the world, with life written into his tired facial expression, standing in a typical room indicating the wooden structures of an old-fashioned log cabin. The internationally acclaimed artist returns to his origins.
No regrets, it seems to say. "I did it my way!"
As I was walking along the streets of Stockholm the other day, I came across a small but well-planned exhibition of Zorn's work, and spontaneously walked in. The paintings and etchings exhibited were mostly borrowed from the Nationalmuseum, and from Zorngården in Mora. The catalogue on offer, however, was from an international exhibition a couple of years back in San Francisco, which of course makes sense. It is in English, and constitutes an adequate summary of Zorn's life and work and cosmopolitan adaptability, thus becoming a symbol of the artist's balance between rural Swedish roots and globetrotting life at the turn of the century, a bridge between the different facets of his life.
Coming home, I read the catalogue from cover to cover, lingering on the different paintings I have seen in so many different museums and exhibitions over the course of the decades. And I thought I'd make a case for Zorn's art! He's just so incredibly ALIVE still!
He grew up in Dalarna, a Swedish landscape with strong folklorist traditions, deep forests, glittering lakes and conservative rural villages and small towns. I lived there myself as a child, learned to speak the typical dialect, and to appreciate the special smell, touch and feel of a world apart, remote and wild and proud of its heritage.
Zorn left his childhood surroundings behind to enter the stage of international art and social life (marrying a progressive, strong and independent woman opened the door to Stockholm's peculiar environment), and his adaptability and incredible artistic talent soon made him move with ease in the most diverse surroundings.
His first artistic successes were based on his watercolour technique, which he used to capture the everyday scenes in his artistic environment and on his extensive travels, always using colour and setting to create an intimate, direct relationship to the models or objects he chose to present.
Celebrating success at home was not enough for his ambitious, driven personality, and Zorn launched a career in London, Paris, and most notably in the United States, where he made a fortune as a portrait painter. The power of facial expression, posture and colour is equally effective when painting American socialites - from a "Dalkulla" in the Swedish forest to a lady in the new world, just a brush stroke's journey.
Being an outgoing, career oriented artist, Zorn also faced criticism, especially at home, and his nudes painted in nature were not always easy to stomach in the official, prudish Swedish society either. Zorn openly celebrated sensuality without hiding it within mythological or religious narratives. His bad temper and impatience brought him trouble on numerous occasions as well. He lived an intensive life and burned the candle at both ends.
Like his friend and contemporary Carl Larsson, he built a refuge for himself and his wife in his native Dalarna, and settled in Mora, a traditional small town at the shores of Lake Siljan. His home still hosts his collections, and a considerable number of his own works. To reach the Zorn Museum from any of the bigger Swedish cities, a visitor has to travel for hours through the forests that shaped Zorn's eye for colour and form, and for natural beauty.
At the end of his career, already marked by illness, Zorn painted a self portrait in his favoured colour red, showing the man of the world, with life written into his tired facial expression, standing in a typical room indicating the wooden structures of an old-fashioned log cabin. The internationally acclaimed artist returns to his origins.
No regrets, it seems to say. "I did it my way!"
As I was walking along the streets of Stockholm the other day, I came across a small but well-planned exhibition of Zorn's work, and spontaneously walked in. The paintings and etchings exhibited were mostly borrowed from the Nationalmuseum, and from Zorngården in Mora. The catalogue on offer, however, was from an international exhibition a couple of years back in San Francisco, which of course makes sense. It is in English, and constitutes an adequate summary of Zorn's life and work and cosmopolitan adaptability, thus becoming a symbol of the artist's balance between rural Swedish roots and globetrotting life at the turn of the century, a bridge between the different facets of his life.
Coming home, I read the catalogue from cover to cover, lingering on the different paintings I have seen in so many different museums and exhibitions over the course of the decades. And I thought I'd make a case for Zorn's art! He's just so incredibly ALIVE still!
September 2, 2022
I was impressed from the get-go by Zorn's mastery of both watercolor and oil painting but while looking at his endless portraits of rich Americans that awe was replaced by boredom. Technically he's very good but the tame colors and interchangeable subjects ultimately make me appreciate him less than other more radical artists who may technically not be as good as Zorn but who have a whole lot more soul.
The text was informative and mentioned a shipload of other (mostly "Nordic") artists that I've been googling. Zorn was the illegitimate son of a Swedish brewery maid and a German master brewer who took off and never saw his child. It was interesting to read how brewers of German descent in Sweden, of the brewery guild, funded young Zorn's education after his inheritance ran out. At some point Zorn is characterized as a self made man and how this made him socially fit in with his American clientele. Like those cotton, oil and railway heirs were in any way self made.
The text was informative and mentioned a shipload of other (mostly "Nordic") artists that I've been googling. Zorn was the illegitimate son of a Swedish brewery maid and a German master brewer who took off and never saw his child. It was interesting to read how brewers of German descent in Sweden, of the brewery guild, funded young Zorn's education after his inheritance ran out. At some point Zorn is characterized as a self made man and how this made him socially fit in with his American clientele. Like those cotton, oil and railway heirs were in any way self made.
May 29, 2024
A friend gifted this book to me. I put it on the shelf and didn’t look at it right away because I thought it was just about oil painting. One day I read that Zorn also worked in watercolor (my favorite medium). Not only did I enjoy seeing his beautiful oils I learned so much about this talented artist. Great for inspiration and well worth the read.
March 17, 2019
Great text, beautiful color plates.
November 30, 2016
An excellent catalogue on the works of the Swedish master painter Anders Zorn. Zorn was a hedonist and a bon vivant, completely lacking in modesty and always willing to associate with the great and the good. His portraits from his time in America are a superb documentation of The Gilded Age.
April 19, 2015
Gorgeous, just gorgeous. A high quality art book with vibrant images. I leave this copy on my coffee table to be enjoyed whenever I have a free moment.
April 30, 2016
Loved reading this- such a balanced approach to the life of a master. Wish every reference could have been included, but the full page plates of Zorn's works were a delight.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews