Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
artist.
Among Zorn's portrait subjects include King
Oscar II
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
of Sweden and three
American Presidents:
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
,
William H. Taft, and
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. At the end of his life, he established the Swedish literary
Bellman Prize in 1920.
Biography
Zorn was born and raised on his grandparents' farm in Yvraden, a hamlet near the village of Utmeland in the parish of
Mora,
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...
. He studied until the age of twelve in the school at Mora Strand before progressing in the autumn of 1872 to a secondary grammar school in
Enköping.
From 1875 to 1880, Zorn studied at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in
Stockholm, where he amazed his teachers with his talent.
Members of the Stockholm Society approached him with commissions. In early 1881, Zorn met Emma Lamm, whose background was quite different from his. Emma Lamm was from a wealthy Jewish merchant family. She was interested in art and culture and, after a long engagement, they were married in a civil ceremony in October 1885.
Zorn traveled extensively, to London, Paris, the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, Spain, Italy and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
; he became an international success and one of the most highly regarded painters of his era.
It was primarily his skill as a portrait painter that gained Zorn international acclaim, based principally upon his incisive ability to depict the individual character of his model.
His subjects included three American Presidents:
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
,
William H. Taft and
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
.
Honors
At the age of 29, he was made a
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
at the
Exposition Universelle 1889 Paris World Fair.
File:Anders Zorn - Mrs. Symons.jpg, Mrs. Symons, 1886
File:Anders Zorn - Lady with fur cape 1887.jpg, Lady with fur cape, 1887
File:Zorn Anders Mrs Potter Palmer.jpg, Mrs. Potter Palmer, 1893
File:Virginia P. Bacon by Anders Zorn, 1897.jpg, Mrs. Walter Rathbone Bacon, 1897
File:Oscar II of Sweden.jpg, The King of Sweden, King '' Oscar II
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
'', 1898
Image:Henry Clay Pierce by Anders Zorn, 1899.jpg, ''Mr Henry Clay Pierce'', a noted financier and oil industry pioneer, 1899
File:Zorn-Motstaende side Mrs Frances Cleveland.jpg, Frances Cleveland
Frances Clara Cleveland Preston (née Folsom born as Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was an American socialite, education activist, and the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889, and again from 1893 to 1897 as t ...
, wife of President Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
, 1899
File:Anders Leonard Zorn - Grover Cleveland - Google Art Project.jpg, President Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
, 1899
Image:Bruno Liljefors by Anders Zorn, 1906.jpg, ''The Painter Bruno Liljefors
Bruno Andreas Liljefors (; 14 May 1860 – 18 December 1939) was a Swedish artist. He is perhaps best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially with dramatic situations. He was the most important and probably most influential Swedish wil ...
'', 1906
File:Anders Zorn - Hugo Reisinger.jpg, Hugo Reisinger holding a fashionable grey Homburg hat
A homburg is a semi-formal hat of fur felt, characterized by a single dent running down the centre of the crown (called a "gutter crown"), a wide silk grosgrain hatband ribbon, a flat brim shaped in a "pencil curl", and a ribbon-bound trim abo ...
, 1907
File:Anders Zorn - Drottning Sophia 1909.jpg, The Queen consort of Sweden and Norway, Queen Sophia, 1909
Image:Anders Zorn - Portrait of William Howard Taft (1911).jpg, ''William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
'', 27th President of the United States, 1911
File:Ambassador David Jayne Hill by Anders Zorn (1860-1920).jpg, Ambassador David Jayne Hill, 1911
File:Anders Zorn - Portrait de Mme Ashley.jpg, Mme Ashley, 1920
File:Anders Zorn - Portrait of Mrs. Eben Richards.jpg, Mrs. Eben Richards, 1920
Collection
Zorn's art made him wealthy and he was thus able to build up a considerable collection of art. The objects were not only bought in his native country but also during the many travels he made abroad. In their joint will, Anders and Emma Zorn donated their entire holdings to the Swedish State.
Some of his most important works can be seen at the National Museum of Fine Arts (Swedish: ''
Nationalmuseum'') in Stockholm. Among them is ''Midsummer Dance'' (1897), a depiction of dancers in the evening light of a rural
Midsummer's Eve celebration. Other museums holding major works by Zorn include the
Musée d'Orsay in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
. The
Zorn Collections (Swedish:''Zornsamlingarna'') located in Mora and Garberg, Älvdalen, consist of four museums dedicated to the life and works of Anders Zorn. The main museum – Zornmuseet – was designed by
Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg (14 July 1866 – 5 February 1945) was a Swedish architect who is best known for designing Stockholm City Hall.
Biography
Östberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were Carl Östberg and Erika Kindahl. Between 1884 a ...
and opened in 1939. Shown there are extensive works of Zorn and his collected art by
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, 'The Hovingham Master' (Poussin's follower), Bruno Liljefors, Albert Edelfelt, and Pehr Hilleström.
The
Bellman Prize (Bellmanpriset) is a literature prize for "an outstanding Swedish poet", every year awarded by the
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...
. The prize was established by Anders Zorn and his wife Emma in 1920.
Zorngården
In 1886, Anders Zorn and his wife, Emma, bought land close to Mora church and here they moved to a cottage from his maternal grandfather's farm. When Anders and Emma Zorn decided to return to Sweden after several years abroad, they began to enlarge the cottage. Zorngården, the Zorn combined smallholding, farmstead, and residence, was completed in 1910.
Zorngården remains today much as it was at the time of Emma Zorn's death in 1942. It is a fine example of an artist's home from the early years of the 20th century. With inspiration from English and Swedish architecture, it is today an excellent example of the architectural freedom that characterizes the years around 1900.
The main part of Zorngården consists of Zorn's home and a museum with his art, but there are two other museums that also are part of the Zorn Collections. Gammelgården is in the southern part of Mora and consists of some 40 timber houses that Zorn bought to make sure that the old art of building such houses would not be forgotten. Gopsmor, Zorn's refuge when under stress, is in the municipality of
Älvdalen
Älvdalen (Elfdalian: ''Övdaln'' or ''Tjyörtjbynn''; literally meaning ''The River Valley'') is a locality and the seat of Älvdalen Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 1,810 inhabitants in 2010.
The parish is widely known for being the ...
and is only open for visitors in July.
Image:Self Portrait by Anders Zorn.jpeg, ''Self portrait'', undated
Image:Selfportrait (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 24242.tif, ''Self portrait'', 1882
File:Självporträtt av Anders Zorn 1896.jpg, ''Self Portrait with Model'', 1896
File:Anders Zorn - Self-Portrait - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Self Portrait with Hat'' 1907
File:Anders Zorn - Självporträtt i vargskinnspäls.jpg, ''Self Portrait with Fur'', 1915
File:Zornself.jpg, ''Self-portrait in red'', 1915
File:Anders Zorn - Self Portrait with Faun and Nymph.jpg, Self Portrait with Faun and Nymph (before 1920)
Paintings
While his early works were often brilliant, luminous
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
s, by 1887 he had switched firmly to oils. Zorn was a prolific artist. He became an international success as one of the most acclaimed portrait painters of his era. His sitters included three American Presidents, nobility, the Swedish king and queen and numerous members of high society. Zorn also painted portraits of family members, friends, and self-portraits. Zorn is also noted for his nude paintings.
His fondness of painting full-figured women gave rise to the terms ''Zornkulla'' or
dalkulla
''Kulla'' (plural ''kullor'') is an older dialectal name for an unmarried woman, used often in most region of Sweden in the vicinity of Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are ...
, an unmarried woman or girl from
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...
, as the women were called in the local
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of the region where Zorn lived.
File:Freya (1901) by Anders Zorn.jpg, ''Freya
In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...
'', 1901
File:ZORN på sandhamn.jpg, ''Woman bathing at Sandhamn'', 1906
File:Anders_Zorn_-_Sk%C3%A4rg%C3%A5rdsblomster.jpg, ''Skärgårdsblomster'' (Archipelago flower), 1916
File:Anders Zorn I werners eka-1917.jpg, ''Woman in a boat'', 1917
File:Anders Zorn - I Sängkammaren.jpg, ''In the bedroom'', 1918
File:Anders Zorn - Ateljéidyll.jpg, ''Studio Idyll'', 1918
The paintings have the freedom and energy of sketches, using warm and cool light and shade areas
with contrasting areas of warm and cool tones, and an understanding of color contrasts and reflected lights. Zorn's accomplished use of the brush allows the forms and the texture of the painted subject to reflect and transmit light. In addition to portraits and nudes, Zorn excelled in realistic depictions of water, as well as scenes depicting rustic life and customs.
Zorn's palette
Zorn was known to use a basic color palette consisting of Lead White (Flake White), Yellow Ochre, Vermilion and Ivory Black. This limited color palette shows tremendous range in terms of color mixing. A large variety of tonal ranges are possible with this palette, a very important development for portrait painting. The color palette can also be used in still life and landscape painting under certain circumstances. The most striking aspect is that a kind of olive green color is possible to obtain by mixing Ivory Black and Yellow Ochre, as Ivory Black is bluish in nature.
Other major works
*''Martha Dana (later Mrs. William Mercer)'' (1899) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
*''George Peabody Gardner'' (1899) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
* ''
A Portrait of the Daughters of Ramón Subercaseaux'' (1892),
Private collection
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
*''Traveling companion (Mr. Charles Deering)'' (1904) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Works
Image:Zorn19131.jpg, ''Castles in the Air'', 1885
File:Our Daily Bread (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 24125.tif, '' Our Daily Bread'', 1886, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
File:Anders Zorn An Algerian man and boy looking across Bay of Algiers.jpg, ''Man and boy in Algiers'', 1887
File:Une premiere av Anders Zorn 1888.jpg, '' En premiär'', 1888
File:Outdoors (Anders Zorn) - Gothenburg Museum of Art - GKM 0256.tif, ''Outdoors'', 1888
File:Zorn Anders Valsen.jpg, ''Waltz'', 1891
File:Anders Zorn - A Portrait of the Daughters of Ramon Subercasseaux.jpg, '' A Portrait of the Daughters of Ramón Subercaseaux'', 1892
Image:Zorn123134.jpg, '' Omnibus I'', 1892
File:Anders Zorn, An Irish Girl, 1894, NGA 11339.jpg, ''An Irish Girl'', 1894, National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
File:Midsommardans.jpg, '' Midsummer Dance'', 1897
Image:Stickande_kulla_av_Anders_Zorn_1901.jpg, ''Dalecarlian Girl Knitting. Cabbage Margit'', 1901
File:Anders Zorn - Hins Anders (1904).jpg, ''Hins Anders'', fiddler
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Although in many ...
or spelman, 1904 (Thiel Gallery
The Thiel Gallery ( sv, Thielska Galleriet) is an art museum in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm, Sweden. Represented are the members of the Artists Association (''Konstnärsförbundet'') from the early 1900s as well as one of the world's l ...
)
Image:A Musical Family (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 18954.tif, ''A Musical Family'', 1905
File:Överförd till Riksdagen, Dans i Gopsmor (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 85527.tif, ''Dance in Gopsmor'', 1906
File:Girls from Dalarna Having a Bath (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 18642.tif, ''Girls from Dalarna Having a Bath'', 1906
Image:Anders Zorn - Ols Maria.JPG, ''Ols Maria'', 1918
See also
*
Bruno Liljefors
Bruno Andreas Liljefors (; 14 May 1860 – 18 December 1939) was a Swedish artist. He is perhaps best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially with dramatic situations. He was the most important and probably most influential Swedish wil ...
*
Zorn Collections
References
Other sources
*Birnbaum, Britta (1985). ''Paintings at Nationalmuseum''. (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum)
*Lidbeck, Sven (2007). ''Anders Zorn Etchings – Catalogue Raisonné 2007''. (Stockholm: Zorn Gallery)
*"Anders Zorn in the Gilded Age",
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
biography (
Colorado Public Television
KBDI-TV, virtual channel 12 (VHF digital channel 13), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station serving Denver, Colorado, United States that is licensed to Broomfield. The station is owned by Colorado Public Television, ...
), one hour, 2013.
* Oliver Tostmann, ed., ''Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America'' (Boston: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2013)
ArtGraphica biography
Further reading
*Asplund, Karl. ''Anders Zorn: His Life And Work'' (edited By Geoffrey Holme The Studio, Ltd. 1921)
*
Facos, Michelle, ''Swedish Impressionism and Its Boston Champion: Anders Zorn and Mrs. Gardner'' (Boston: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1993)
*Facos, Michelle, “Anders Zorn and English Art,” ''The Nationalmuseum Bulletin'' (Spring 1994) vol. 18, no. 1: 58–67
*Laurvik, John Nilsen ''Anders Zorn'' (F. Keppel. 1913)
*Engstrom, Albert ''Anders Zorn'' (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Forlag. 1928) Swedish
*Boethius, Gerda ''Anders Zorn;: An international Swedish artist, his life and work'' (Stockholm: Nordisk Rotogravyr, 1962) Swedish
*Hagans, William and Willow ''Zorn In America: A Swedish Impressionist of the Gilded Age'' (Swedish American Historical Society, 2009) English
External links
*
Zorn Collections*
*Listing of 289 Zorn prints with reference numbers and many with images a
Artists ArchiveZorngården houseAnders Zorn exhibition catalogsAnders Zorn: Sweden's Master Painterat
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
, 2014
''Anders Zorn in the Gilded Age''video trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zorn, Anders
1860 births
1920 deaths
19th-century Swedish painters
20th-century Swedish painters
20th-century male artists
20th-century printmakers
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Orientalist painters
Portrait painters
People from Mora Municipality
Swedish Impressionist painters
St Ives artists
Swedish printmakers
Swedish male painters
19th-century male artists