Sunday 22nd December - Woman Lying on a Bench

Gosh, it's Sunday!  We only have a couple more after this! I best get on with it...

'Her Mother's Voice'

That one took me a minute and I had to go and google whether 'catgut' actually was made of the insides of cat.  Of course not, that would be weird.  It's sheep and cows. Moving on...

It is a day of rest and so I truly intend to take it easy today. If I am honest, I am absolutely exhausted from the last few days/weeks/months, so a day of just lying around, reading or knitting would actually be splendid. I don't really need to cook as we have left-overs from yesterday, so I just need to type this, then I can have a snooze...

Woman Lying on a Bench (1913) Carl Larsson

Just as a change, I chose this beautiful bright image by Carl Larsson (1853-1919)  as I always turned to the Scandinavians at this time of year - I find they understand the importance of light and revel in presence of it.  This image speaks of an airy, bright afternoon, with nothing better to do than recline in the garden with a book, a dog and a cat. It is not warm as our lass has a few blankets, so maybe it is that crisp, blinding winter sunshine that fills you up and she couldn't resist bathing in it.

Azaleas (1906)

Larsson seems to have had a very unhappy childhood; he wrote in his autobiography Jag (published posthumously in 1931) that his early life was one of poverty, his father's poor life choices and moving from one poor living arrangement to another, where disease was prevalent. He was saved by art - his teacher in the poor school encouraged him to apply to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts and he never looked back, despite feeling like the outsider in such a prestigious establishment. He managed while studying to earn enough money to support his parents, which is the sort of phrase that makes me groan, but it is to his credit.

Still Life with Fruit and Tankard (1877) Karin Bergöö

While searching for his style, Larsson moved to Paris, but was not compelled by Impressionism slide towards abstraction.  He liked the plein-air style of painting and joined a Scandinavian colony of painters at Grez-sur-Loing, where in 1883 he met Karin Bergöö, a fellow painter. The couple fell in love and married, their daughter Suzanne arriving the year after in 1884.

Karin with Suzanne at Grez Sur-Loing (1885)

In 1888, Karin's father gave the couple a cottage, Lilla Hyttnäs, in Sundborn near his home city of Falun in Sweden.  The couple began to decorate the home in a combination of the National Art Style, William Morris and Arts and Crafts, with simple furniture and light colours until it became one of the most famous homes in Sweden. It was here that Karin could design and create the furniture and clothes that appear in many of her husband's paintings.  In return, Karin and their eight children became Larsson's models in his work, creating a light, bright, slightly insular world.

Hide and Seek (1898)

For all intents and purposes, they are William and Jane Morris (if Jane had come from a wealthy background that took her art seriously and William had been poor), without the issue of Rossetti, and the Larsson's pale sunshiney world is one I really love and would appreciate being part of. I didn't know the clothes and some of the furniture that fill the rooms were designed by Karin, and I think it adds to the ideal of blissful isolation and self-sufficiency. That is undoubtedly Karin on the bench with the dog and cat and I now wonder if she designed that bench. I am currently typing this with my own dog in a similar position as Karin's and I think the tiny black and white kitten and shiny tan of the dog compliment the colours of the pillow and blankets perfectly. Everything fits, is cozy and beautiful and is the perfect domesticity you could imagine.

Carl and Karin Larsson

Carl died the same week as Byam Shaw in 1919, aged only 66 with Karin joining him a decade later.  Their children ensured that their family home was preserved for the nation and that their parents work was honoured.  I was pleased to see that Karin, whilst not as widely known as Carl, is beginning to be spoken in the same breath as her husband and not in a 'his wife, also an artist' manner.  Carl and Karin are again being recognised as the Swedish Art Power Couple they undoubtedly were and there is even a tv mini series about their love, which I bet is gorgeous.

I'm off to recline on a bench so I'll catch you tomorrow for our penultimate Catvent...