Nils von Dardel

By the end of 1920s Nils and Thora Dardel’s marriage was more or less over and it was a mutual decision to divorce in 1934. However, already at the beginning of the 1930s Nils was introduced to a childhood friend of Thora, Edita Morris (born Toll). When Nils Dardel and Edita Morris met in Paris they both fell passionately in love with each other. Their relation lasted until Dardel’s death in 1943, although Edita remained married to Ira Morris her whole life.

This new passionate love affair introduces a new pictoral language into Dardel’s artistic work. In the painting ”Den bortrövade ormen (The abduction of the snake)” a woman sits on the ground watching three exotic birds flying away with a snake. The snake has been an important symbol in many ways through history. In the Freudian psychoanalysis at the beginning of the 20th century the snake stands for sexuality while in the Christian religion it symbolizes the snake in the Paradise who, through lies, creates chaos. The snake in the work ”The abduction of the snake” is helpless and can not control the forces of passion and love that are stronger than him.