"At summertime we were with my sister-in-law Stina living a healthy outdoors life by Äppelviken (outside of Varberg), there we rented a cottage from the widow of a stone-cutter, with a little garden protected from the wind by a stone wall. We bathed together and played as if we were children. Suzanne jumped on the never-ending stones like a goat. Little Ulf preferred lying by his mother’s breast."

Carl Larsson is here describing the idyllic existence he spent at Äppelviken, near Varberg, during a couple of summer months in the late 1880s. It was here that he is said to have painted Aftonrodnad, a painting whose quiet garden scene seems to mirror the artist’s sense of well-being in the countryside. In the painting he depicts his wife Karin’s sister Stina standing in the lush garden looking with rosy cheeks towards the artist. At first you only see two people in the painting, but if you look closely the foot of a third figure is visible in the bottom right hand corner of the image.

When not at Äppelviken life was far from harmonious for the artist. In 1887 Larsson taught at Valand art school in Gothenburg and amongst his students were Albert Engström and Carl Wilhelmson. As per usual the students were not very well off, and Larsson helped out as much as he could – a generosity that was impressive given Larsson’s own financial situation. The artist recalled his circumstances in his memoir Jag: “I was penniless: it was not the glory days I thought myself being so close to. My new and wealthy acquaintances in Gothenburg invited me to parties – the most extravagant kind, but any purchases or commissions were hard to come by”.

In other words it wasn’t the easy life for the Larsson family at this time, far from the idyllic existence at Sundborn, which has later come to be so associated with Carl, Karin and their children. However it was, fortunately, in no way a joyless life. The relatively recently newly-wed couple had by now begun to create a family and each day they could rejoice in their first-born child. At Äppelviken they were able to spend time together quietly and in "Aftonrodnad" you get a real insight into the peace of mind that Larsson felt there.