Nils Dardel (full name Nils Elias Kristofer von Dardel, sometimes known as ''Nils de Dardel'') was a 20th-century

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Post-Impressionist painter, grandson to famous Swedish painter

Fritz von Dardel Fritz Ludvig von Dardel (24 March 1817 – 27 May 1901) was a Swedish diarist, illustrator and early comics artist. He was a courtier, and is known for his diary and illustrations depicting the life of the Swedish court in the mid-19th century. ...

Biography

Dardel was born in Bettna,

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

, Sweden in 1888. He studied at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...

in Stockholm between 1908–1910. Some of his most famous paintings are ''Den döende dandyn'', ''Crime Passionnel'', ''Svarta Diana'' and ''John blund''.

Family life

Nils Dardel was born into the Swedish noble family ''von Dardel'', son of the landowner Fritz August von Dardel and Sofia Matilda Norlin. His grandfather was the Swedish painter

, adjutant to the later king Charles XV of Sweden and member of the

in Stockholm, where Nils later studied between 1908–1920, and of which he eventually became a member in 1934. In 1919, he proposed to Nita Wallenberg, but her father, a Swedish diplomat, disapproved of Dardel and the marriage was not to be. This was linked closely to the creation of his work ''Exekution'' (Execution), which is said to be symbolic of the rejection. Nils Dardel married the author Thora Dardel (1899–1995 – née Klinckowström), which marriage lasted between 1921–1934. Together they had a daughter Ingrid von Dardel (1922–1962) who like her father became an artist. Both her sons Henry Unger (born 1945 – father Gustav Unger) and Nils Ekwall (born 1954 – father Lage Ekwall) in turn were also active Swedish artists. After the marriage to Thora, sometime in the 1930s Nils met

Edita Morris Edith (Edita) Dagmar Emilia Morris, born ''Toll'' (5 March 1902 – 15 March 1988) was a Swedish-American writer and political activist. Biography Edita Morris was born in Örebro in Sweden. Her parents were Reinhold Toll, an agronomist who had ...

(1902–1988, née Toll), a Swedish writer with whom he shared his remaining life. - though she remained married to Ira Victor Morris.

Paris

After studying in Sweden he did as many of his contemporaries and traveled to Paris around 1910 (such as Leander Engström, Isaac Grünewald,

Einar Jolin Einar Jolin (7 August 189029 August 1976) was a Swedish painter best known for his decorative and slightly naïve Expressionist style. After studying at Konstfack, Stockholm in 1906 and at the '' Konstnärsförbundets målarskola'' (the Art ...

, and Sigrid Hjerten who all became students of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

). Dardel primarily took inspiration from the Fauvists with their pure palette, the Post-Impressionists, as well as Japanese

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s. Dardel also made a brief foray into Cubism, and painted a few cityscapes in the style.

Post-Impressionism

Dardel explored Pointillism, using strong colors together with very clear motifs. ''Begravning i Senlis'' (Funeral in Senlis) from 1913 typifies this style and was painted while Dardel was visiting a staying in the medieval town of

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other ...

. Another early painting was the portrayal German art dealer Alfred Flechtheim. Over the course of Dardel's life, he primarily painted humans, concentrating on portraiture or paintings of groups of people.

Ballets Suédois

After living in Paris for three years, Dardel and Rolf de Maré became friends. Maré would later create the

Ballets Suédois Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, which performed in Paris between 1920 and 1925. The friendship benefited Dardel as Maré was able to act as a benefactor for Dardel's art, and the duo is also claimed to have been fruitful for Maré's dance company. In the early 1920s, Dardel created a number of works based upon stage sets, and these have been likened to sketches of drama or film. Dardel also created the stage sets for ''Midsummer Wake'' (music by

Hugo Alfvén Hugo Emil Alfvén (; 1 May 18728 May 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter. Career Violinist Alfvén was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 ...

), and ''Maison de Fous'' (a dance drama with compositions by

Viking Dahl Viking Dahl (8 October 1895 – 5 January 1945) was a Swedish composer, active also as a painter and an author. Biography Frode Viking Samson Dahl was born in Osby in Scania, Sweden. He was the son of Samuel Dahl (1847-1932) and Katarina Lovis ...

). ''Crime passionnel'' (Crime of Passion) from 1921 is typical of Dardel's paintings from this era.

Travels

Nils was a prolific traveler, picking up influences and motives from different countries.

Later years

Dardel lived a nomadic life, traveling far and wide without ever really settling down. Many of his portraits are of people and places whom he met along his travels. He was known to be self-destructive. Not exceptionally appreciated in his lifetime, his breakthrough in Sweden came simultaneously to the breaking out of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Europe, at the time when

Liljevalchs konsthall Liljevalchs konsthall ( Swedish for "Liljevalch's Art Gallery") is an art gallery located on the Djurgården island in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Carl Bergsten (1879–1935) and inaugurated in March 1916, it is today owned by the Cit ...

displayed a retrospective of Dardel's life and works.

Legacy

Nils died in New York City in 1943, and was buried in ''Ekerö cemetery'' outside of Stockholm.Göran Åstrand: ''Känt och okänt på Stockholms kyrkogårdar'' (Ordalaget Bokförlag 1998) sid.40 His works are on display in a number of museums and galleries including Nationalmuseum,

Göteborgs konstmuseum Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collect ...

, Malmö konstmuseum, Nasjonalgalleriet and Waldermarsudde. His works ''Självporträtt'' (Self-portrait) and ''Visit hos en excentrisk dam'' (Visit at an eccentric lady) were featured by the Swedish Postal-works 1988 stamp series ''Svenska konstnärer i Paris'' (Swedish artists in Paris). His 1918 work ''Den döende dandyn'' (The dying dandy) was sold twice at record prices at

Bukowskis Bukowskis is a Scandinavian fine art and antique auction house established in 1870 by the Polish nobleman Henryk Bukowski in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1979, an office was opened in Helsinki, Finland. In January 2022, Bukowskis was acquired by Bonhams ...

in Stockholm; first in 1984 at 3,4 million kronor and again in 1988 for the then termed sensational 13 million kronor. Simultaneously the image took on an iconic role within the 1980s Swedish gay movement. His works came to be analyzed under the budding field of gender-studies, and the ambivalence of the sex of his characters were topic of study. NILS VON DARDEL,

Dardel's work ''Vattenfallet'' (or ''the Waterfall'') sold for 25 million kronor in 2012 and was to date the most expensive modernist Swedish painting ever sold. The buyer was an undisclosed individual. The record in turn supplanted the earlier record held by ''the Dying Dandy''.

Selected works

1900s

File:Självporträtt, Nils von Dardel.jpg, ''Self-portrait''
1906 File:Nils Dardel - Gosshuvud.jpg, ''Gosshuvud''
1908 File:ND Mansportraett.jpg, ''Mansporträtt''
''Portrait of a man''
1908 File:Nils Dardel - Torparflicka.png, ''Torparflicka''
''Farm girl''
1909

1910s

File:ND03 Flicka blaa.jpg, ''Flicka i blå klänning''
''Girl in blue dress''
1910 File:ND Tvaa flickor.jpg, ''Två flickor''
''Two Girls''
1911 File:Nils Dardel, Turisthotellet i Rättvik.jpg, ''Turisthotellet i Rättvik''
''Tourist hotel in Rättvik''
1915 File:Nils Dardel Döende dandyn.jpg, ''Den döende dandyn''
'' The Dying Dandy''
1918 File:ND dd2.jpg, ''Den döende dandyn''
(1st version)
1918

1920s

File:Nils Dardel - Visit hos excentrisk dam.png, ''Visit hos excentrisk dam''
1921 File:NILS VON DARDEL, "Svarta Diana".Jpeg, ''Svarta Diana''
''Black Diana''
1929 File:Målning av Nils von Dardel (Drömmar och fantasier nr 1), 1922 - Hallwylska museet - 22229.tif, ''Drömmar och fanstasier'' #1
''Dreams and fantasies''
1922 File:ND Der Tod und das Maedchen.jpg, ''En dans med döden''
''A dance with Death''
1920 File:ND Familjeidyll.jpg, ''Familjeidyll''
''Family idyll''
1923 File:NILS VON DARDEL "The Return to the Playgrounds of Youth".jpg, ''Return to the Playgrounds of Youth''
1924

1930s

File:Nils Dardel Marthe.jpg, ''Marthe''
1930 File:ND92.jpg, ''Ett hjärta i brand''
''A heart in flames''
ca. 1930 File:ND Fiskaren.jpg, ''Fiskaren''
''The angler''
1931 File:NILS VON DARDEL "GRÄSHOPPAN".jpg, ''Gräshoppan''
''The Grasshopper''
1931 File:ND Ormen.jpg, ''Den bortrövade ormen''
ca. 1931 File:ND Autoportrait1935.jpg, ''Autoportrait''
1935 File:ND Edita Morris.jpg, ''Edita Morris''
1936

1940s

File:ND Mexicain.jpg, ''Mexican boy''
~1940 File:ND Mexicaine.jpg, ''Mexican girl''
~1940 File:ND62.jpg, ''Mexikansk kvinna med korslagda händer''
''Mexican woman with crossed hands''
~1940 File:ND63.jpg, ''Hustrumördaren''
''The wife murderer''
~1940 File:ND65.jpg, ''Mexican girl''
~1940 File:Nils Dardel - Gammal mexikansk kvinna.jpg, ''Gammal mexikansk kvinna''
''Old Mexican lady File:ND Indian.jpg, ''Mexikansk Indian''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dardel, Nils von 20th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters Post-Impressionist artists Fauvism Swedish nobility 1888 births 1943 deaths People from Södermanland County Nils Morris family (meatpacking) 20th-century Swedish male artists