Carl Larsson Swedish 1853-1919

Sale: Göteborgs Auktionsverk, Gothenburg, 26 March 1980, lot 433
Purchased at the above sale by the present owners

Stockholm, Folkets Hus, 1904
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum; Gothenburg, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Carl Larsson, 1992, no. 85

Carl Larsson, De mina och annat gammalt krafs, Stockholm, 1919, illustrated in colour
Georg Nordensvan, Carl Larsson 1890-1919, part II, Stockholm, 1921, pp. 228-9
Carl Larsson, Carl Larsson skildrad av honom själv, ed. Harriet and Sven Alfons, Stockholm, 1952, p. 202, illustrated
Görel Cavalli-Björkman and Bo Lindwall, The World of Carl Larsson, La Jolla, 1982, p. 126, illustrated in colour
Ulwa Neegaard, Carl Larsson: signerat med pensel och penna, Stockholm, 1999, vol. I, p. 324, no. 1104, illustrated in colour; vol. II, p. 95, no. 1104, catalogued

This condition report has been provided by Jane McAusland, Conservator and Restorer of Art on Paper, Nether Hall Barn, Old Newton, Nr. Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 4PP. Carl Larsson Esbjorn Och Bondflickan (Esbjorn and the Farmer's Girl) Watercolour, bodycolour and charcoal on paper Support This large watercolour is on a thick wove paper secured on a stretcher with a light cotton canvas lining behind. Over the years all four corners have become wrinkled and torn, the lower left one having two tears. As there has been no protection at the back of this work there is a little discolouration at the edges. There are scattered artist pinholes in the sheet and a small brown mark which maybe an oil stain above the head of the horse. Otherwise the condition is good. Medium The watercolour pigments are still fairly bright though there has been some slight fading in the more delicate tones. Conservation This watercolour should at some stage be conserved. It needs to be removed from its present mounting on a stretcher, repaired and lined. After this treatment the work needs to be reattached to the stretcher with a museum board lying behind. The canvas can be preserved for historic reasons.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The inscription along the lower edge of the present work records four year old Esbjörn Larsson's words to Brita Hellberg, the daughter of a carpenter at Sundborn: 'I don't want to become a Papa but a man, because Papa can't dig ditches nor can he whittle sticks'. Poking fun at himself, the father in question is of course none other than the author of the work Carl Larsson whose profession as an artist he derides in favour of the more physical demands of working the land.

Painted for the community hall Folkets Hus in Stockholm, the subject of Esbjörn och bondflickan celebrates and idealises the agricultural lifestyle, and depicts Larsson's vision of man's harmonious place in nature. Only recently an industrialised nation, many people in Sweden wistfully remembered their rural origins and found serenity in such pastoral aspirations.

The present work reverberates with the domestic intimacy that characterises Larsson's oeuvre, depicting the places and people closest to him. In the background is Spadarvet, the small farm that Larsson purchased in 1897 to bring him closer to his dream of a rural life close to the soil. The men working the land are Johan, Carl Larsson's gardener at the family home of Sundborn, and 'old man Bäckström', who helped with the chores at Larsson's farm. In this image he is shown unloading manure from a cart. The juxtaposition of the young brightly attired children with the old farm hands illustrates Larsson's idyllic vision of all generations living and working in communion with one another.