View full screen - View 1 of Lot 4. Say Hello to the Gentleman!.
4

Carl Larsson

Say Hello to the Gentleman!

Estimate:

150,000

to
- 200,000 GBP

Property from the Collection of Sir Michael Smurfit

3

4

5

Carl Larsson

Carl Larsson

Say Hello to the Gentleman!

Say Hello to the Gentleman!

Estimate:

150,000

to
- 200,000 GBP

Property from the Collection of Sir Michael Smurfit

Carl Larsson

Swedish

1853 - 1919

Say Hello to the Gentleman!


signed with initials and dated 1917 lower right

watercolour over ink and pencil on paper

Unframed: 100.5 by 70cm., 39½ by 27½in.

Framed: 118 by 87cm., 46½ by 34¼in.

The artist's sheet has been fully laid on fine linen canvas, attached to wooden stretcher which is providing stable support. The extreme edges of the sheet have somewhat browned as it would be expected from a work on paper of this age. Otherwise, the medium is strong and colours are well preserved. Presented glazed and framed.


The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.

Sale: Bukowskis, Stockholm, 31 October 1989, lot 42
Sale: Nordén, Stockholm, 29 May 1997, lot 62
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner
Ulwa Neergaard, Carl Larsson, Stockholm, 1999, vol. I, p. 577, illustrated; p. 580, cited; vol. II, p. 165, no. 1699, catalogued (as Hälsa vackert på fabor)
Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Carl Larssons minnesutställning på Liljevalchs Konsthall, 1920, no. 341
Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Carl Larsson - 100 år minnesutställning på Liljevalchs Konsthall, 1953, no. 369 (as Hälsa på farbror)
Stockholm, National Museum; Gothenburg, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Carl Larsson-utställningen, 1992, no. 101
As his children grew up and moved away, in later years Larsson increasingly turned from depictions of his own family life at home in Sundborn to other subjects. His sixth and final publication of 1913 was titled Andras Barn (Other People's Children). The present work is set at nearby Spadarfvet farm and depicts Hilma Kvarnberg (née Sundgren), who was formerly the Larssons' cook, before she married Erik whose family ran the farm. Hilma is depicted encouraging her eighteen-month-old daughter Greta to come forward: she walks unsteadily towards the artist, holding a dandelion flower. Mother and daughter are framed by the lush vegetation, a beautiful example of Larsson's art nouveau technique. A rowan tree laden with its red berries stands behind, while an umbellifer bearing its seeds rises up in front. Beyond the white gates lay the dam, which provided the estate with an early form of hydroelectric power.

The Larssons acquired Spadarfvet farm in 1897, and thereafter Carl referred to himself as an 'artist and farmer'. This connection to the land became increasingly important as his growing family moved definitively to Sundborn after 1901. Following earlier publications Ett hem and Larssons, Spadarfvet: mitt lilla landtbruk with its 24 watercolours was published in 1906. Rather than the Kvarnbergs depicted here, this album depicted the Johansson family, who tended the farm before them. Described as 'Larsson's homage to Swedish peasant culture', the album included scenes of archetypal rural labour such as sowing, mowing, threshing, winnowing, and also slaughtering, the potato harvest, and the apple harvest.