Important Spring Sale presents "Cherryblossoms" by Karin Larsson
Karin Bergöö arrived in Grez on the first of July 1882 together with Julia Beck, Lydia Wigert, Emma Löwstedt and Hildegard Theorell. In Karin's letter home to her parents, the reader gets a glimpse of her work in Grez: "In Paris, I went out too much, here I have my work, and although I haven't had time to get so many results due to the weather, I have received appreciation for the little I have done"(7/14/1882).
The newly engaged now started working together. In a letter to her parents, Karin writes: "After we have taken a walk, Carl goes and work, and he will always find that his motif would also be suitable for me to paint and so we work together"*. (12.10.1882)
The approach seems to have brought mutual stimulation and brought them both forward artistically. The renewed power with which Carl resumed watercolour painting from the summer of 1882 would, a couple of years later, lead to great successes. At the prestigious Salon in Paris in 1884, he sold the watercolour "Dammen" to the French state.
For Karin, art developed in Paris. Although Carl remained in Grez, she chose to spend the winter and spring in the French capital. The time was devoted, in addition to lessons in French, to further artistic studies. The studies took place primarily at the Académie Colarossi and through lessons for the accomplished Belgian artist Alfred Stevens who, during the years 1880-1890, ran a painting studio in Montmartre, mainly for female students: "Today I have been praised by Stevens for my painting, he said that my model was the best of all those who painted "(letter to parents 8.3.1883).
After a visit to Sweden, with marriage in Adolf Fredrik's Church (June 12, 1883), the couple returned, via Paris, to Grez. Although Karin's life situation, as a newlywed mother, in future gave less and less room for further development in easel painting, the few preserved paintings from this period show technical skill and, unequivocally, artistic promise.
During the spring of 1884, the couple Larsson, once again, picked up their painting materials, side by side on a beautiful and sun-drenched hill at Grez. This time the task was not about depicting a hard-working farmer's wife in an autumnal vegetable field. The motif consisted instead of an elegantly equipped young woman with a parasol surrounded by sheer cherry blossoms under blue skies. Although the spring of 1884 has been described as a period of outstanding development for Carl Larsson as a watercolourist, it is difficult not to feel that Karin's version of the motif is the winning one when comparing. It is obvious that her painting had undergone a tremendous development since her portrayal of Mére Morot in 1882.
Just over a year later, in May 1885, Carl and Karin Larsson, together with their children, left Grez and moved to Stockholm. Later on, after moving to Lilla Hyttnäs in Sundborn in 1901, Karin's art passed into the phase that created her international fame. From now on, she devoted herself primarily to what is nowadays called design and interior architecture. In addition to pioneering clothing for herself and the children, Karin created unique modern interior textiles, designed a slightly functional rocking chair and coloured and decorated the distinctive and legendary family and artist home, which attracts interest from art historians and tourists around the world. A highly significant memory from her previous activities as an outdoor painter is the auction's oil painting, which is still mounted in the original frame, decorated by Karin, from the composition's creation 137 years ago.
The painting should have served as a significant memory for Karin herself. According to Karin, the time in Grez was the happiest in her life. A few years after the creation of the painting, when Carl was alone in Grez, in the spring of 1886, she wrote: "... you are in Grez, the most glorious loveliest place on earth! I have spent so many happy moments there, from the day you first the time said that you love me. Everything around me was suddenly filled with jubilant life and happiness. The sun shone warmer, the grass smelled, and the birds sang as they had never done before."
When is the viewing and auction?
Viewing 27 May – 1 June, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm.
Auction 2 – 4 June, Arsenalsgatan 2, Stockholm.
[[View the artwork]](/auctions/633/526-karin-larsson-fodd-bergoo-korsbarsblom)