Anders Zorn: Details E-Book

Nealson Warshow

• Herausgeber: Nealson Warshow
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and print-maker in etching. His incisive ability to depict the individual character of his model is famous. The model's surroundings were important; Zorn believed that a portrait should be painted in an environment that was natural for the model. An artificial studio environment was not to his taste. This book contains 250 high-quality annotated reproductions with details of paintings and etchings by Anders Zorn. Some people say that the "devil's in the details" and generally, they are right. Looking out for the small details in one picture is a good practice, since in most of the cases small but ultimately important details is the heart of a great author's idea. This title aims to help you see the details of Zorn's works; his secrets are not in his words, they are in his works. Look close up at his paintings and etchings, and that tell you what you cannot see but need to know and that should be enough.

Leseprobe

Anders Zorn: Details

By Nealson Warshow

First Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Nealson Warshow

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Anders Zorn: Details

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Foreword

This book contains 250high-quality annotated reproductionswith details of paintings and etchings by Anders Zorn.

Anders Leonard Zorn (1860 –1920) was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching. His incisive ability to depict the individual character of his model is famous. The model's surroundings were important; Zorn believed that a portrait should be painted in an environment that was natural for the model. An artificial studio environment was not to his taste.

Zorn was born in Yvraden, a hamlet in the village of Utmeland in the parish of Mora, Dalarna, and was raised on his grandparents' farm in Yvraden. He studied until the age of twelve in the school at Mora Strand before progressing in the autumn of 1872 to a secondary grammar school in Enköping.

From 1875–1880 Zorn studied at Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, Sweden. He traveled extensively to London, Paris, the Balkans, Spain, Italy and the United States, becoming an international success as one of the most acclaimed painters of his era. While his early works were often brilliant, luminous watercolors, by 1887 he had switched firmly to oils.

In 1886, Anders Zorn and his wife Emma had bought land close to Mora church and here they moved a cottage from his maternal grandfather's farm. When Anders and Emma Zorn decided to return to Sweden after several years abroad, they began to enlarge the cottage. Zorngården was completed in 1910.

In 1893, the Columbian World Fair was arranged in Chicago. Zorn was chosen as the superintendent of the Swedish art exhibition and travelled to the States. He stayed for almost a year. This trip to the USA, the first of seven, was very important for him. Zorn enjoyed the American lifestyle and felt at home there. This first trip to the States was also of great importance for his art. Subsequent visits to the USA were in 1896-1897, and 1898-1899, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1907, and 1911. He generally travelled during the fall, winter and spring. The 1907 trip was primarily for pleasure, but the others included a large number of paintings, mostly portraits. Naturally, the high points were the commissions to portray American presidents. One of the benefits of the presidential portraits was the number of commissions that Zorn received in the USA.

Beginning in 1910, Zorn focused on developing his control of the technique and motif. He accomplished this with such certainty that the process of painting can assume the dominant role, sometimes to the detriment of the work's emotional expression.

Zorn's health deteriorated markedly during his last years. He died on August 22, 1920. The funeral was conducted by Archbishop Nathan Söderblom and attended among others by representatives of the Swedish royal family and many cultural personalities. He is buried in Mora Cemetery.