John Bauer

"Labbmor" is one of John Bauer's illustrations for Vilhelm Nordins tale "Kvastarnas kvast, alla kvastars kung" (The Broom of Brooms, King of All Brooms), published in Bland tomtar och troll (Among Gnomes and Trolls) in 1913. The story is about broom-maker Jon, who lived in a forest and was as poor as a stick but as happy as a green twig. One day, he decides to bind a particularly special broom - "Kvastarnas kvast, alla kvastars kung". To assist him, he enlists, among others, Vingmor, Tassmor, and Labbmor, the latter of whom contributes to giving the broom its power. Labbmor is described in the tale as "dressed in bear skin from head to toe and had small, gentle gingerbread eyes, but her mouth was a red, steaming maw, and at her belt hung gnawed skulls and bones."

Bauer painted his fairy tale motifs during a time marked by a fascination with the magical nature and the beings of folklore. This interest in the mystique of nature can be understood against the backdrop of rapid societal changes occurring around the turn of the 20th century. In a transformative era characterised by industrialisation, modernity, and science, artists, as well as writers and composers, sought to explore the shadowy sides of existence and the mysteries of nature. The myths surrounding the wicked and ugly trolls and the beautiful forest spirits and fairies had been passed down for centuries through an oral, folk storytelling tradition via legends, folk songs, and tales. These nature beings appeared to be an important part of life at that time. What was not understood or deemed deviant from the norm was often explained by the involvement of nature beings in people's lives.

This spirit of the times was prevalent in Stockholm when Bauer settled there in 1898 to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He had grown up in Jönköping in the late 1800s with a hunter for a father, and together they had spent much time in the forests of Småland, which made a significant impression on the young Bauer. In 1900, Bauer was admitted to the Royal Academy, where he became early on interested in the art of illustration. By 1903, he was considered an established illustrator, partly due to his drawings for Anna Wahlberg's collection of fairy tales, Länge, länge sedan (Long, Long Ago), for which Bauer designed the cover and created 26 illustrations. In the following years, he developed his style and thematic world. He discovered the deep forest where gnarled trolls and delicate fairies and princesses lived among mossy stones and tall trees.

In 1907, he received the commission to illustrate Bland tomtar och troll, an annual publication of collected fairy tales. Through his images, he would shape our perception of the fairy tale forest and its inhabitants. The forest became his stage, and he filled it with beautiful princesses and peculiar trolls. John Bauer settled with his wife, Ester Ellqvist, in Torstorp outside Gränna, where the artist could wander in the dense forests and find inspiration for his visual world.

No other artist managed to make the world of fairy tales feel as alive as John Bauer, with his evocative depictions of trolls, mythic creatures, princes, and princesses. He worked almost exclusively in watercolour when illustrating the tales and often experimented with different versions of the motifs until he found the right feeling. In the auction's watercolour, we encounter Labbmor deep in the dark forest, standing before the stone door to her moss-covered dwelling. Her powerful figure, wrapped in bear skin, seems to merge with the surrounding rocks. The colour palette is muted and somber, with the stones and lichens of nature only hinted at. Labbmor's jewellery, however, is rendered in detail, scary and lifelike. Her belt of gnawed bones and animal skulls dangles ominously in a shaft of light. As so often in Bauer's works, a strong sense of mystique rests over the painting, and with his sure hand, he leads us straight into the enchanted world of the saga.