Ulf. Nude Boy among Birches

Carl Larsson (1853 - 1919)

Artist/Maker

Artist: Carl Larsson (1853 - 1919)

Material / Technique

Watercolour on paper

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 63 x 44,5 cm h x w x d: Ram 71,2 x 53,1 x 4,3 cm

Inventory numberNMB 1536

AcqusitionBequest 1946 Ferdinand and Anna Boberg

Other titlesTitle (sv): Ulf. En naken pojke mellan björkstammar Title (en): Ulf. Nude Boy among Birches

DescriptionDescription: There was obviously room for children in Carl Larsson’s pictorial world as individuals in their own right. In the watercolours from his home at Sundborn no real distinction is made between a children’s and an adult sphere. Even though Carl Larsson had his own bedroom, the children could roam the house freely. Life outdoors was part of the lifestyle advocated by Carl and Karin Larsson in their illustrated volumes published in large numbers in several countries.

Collection

Paintings (Paintings)

MaterialWatercolour

TechniquePainting

External links

Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q18546835

Additional texteExhibition text: As the artist’s son Ulf turns around among the birch trunks, his body assumes a pose that resembles the slender, supple trees. Nordic nature was a common theme in 1890s art, but Carl Larsson’s daylight scenes with white birches stood out from the habitual twilight views (especially with pines against sunsets). The setting is Bullerholmen, an island in the Sundborn river, where the Larsson family used to go by rowing boat to bathe. Ulf, who is eleven in this painting, died in 1905 after a failed appendectomy.