Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn was a Swedish master artist who lived from 1860 to 1920. He was a prolific painter, etcher, and sculptor. He achieved fame through his commissioned portraits of high Swedish society. He also created a series of genre paintings and nudes. He is often referred to as the “Swedish Impressionist”.

Zorn was born in Yvraden, Sweden. He was raised by his grandparents in a relatively low-income family. In 1875, at 15 years old, he attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm. He was initially interested in pursuing sculpture but became interested in painting while at the Academy. After an exhibition at the Student show in 1880, Zorn soon started receiving portrait commissions from wealthier members of Swedish society. It was through his portraits that he met his wife, Emma Lamm, in 1881. Emma was from a wealthy family who commissioned a portrait of her. She was very interested in art and provided a valuable resource to her husband offering critiques and suggestions to his work.

Zorn’s early portraits were mostly painted with watercolors. It wasn’t until the late 1880s that he started to work predominantly in oil paints. His commissioned portraits soon brought him fame, money, and critical acclaim. He has been praised for his ability to capture the personality of his sitter and his wonderful competence at painting both light and water. In 1899, when Zorn was 29 years old, he received several high honors. He was appointed a Knight of the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, France’s highest honor, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. He was also asked to paint a self-portrait to hang in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. 

His most famous portrait sitters include the Swedish King Oscar II, his wife, Queen Sophia, as well as three American Presidents; Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt. Anders Zorn is often referred to as the “Swedish Impressionist”. His work exhibits influence from the Impressionist art movement. He has been praised for his ability to capture the personality of his sitter and his wonderful competence at painting both light and water. In true impressionism style, his brushwork was loose and his edges soft. Interestingly, even with broad brush strokes, his work appears natural and realistic.

Zorn purposely restrained his color palette, which became a signature of his style. He mostly worked in whites, blacks, yellow ochre, and vermilion. Zorn and his wife were avid art enthusiasts. They bought many pieces of art from their travels both abroad and at home in Sweden. The home that he shared with his wife that housed his own art collection is today a museum, Zorngården. 

Zorn’s later works are characterized mostly by nude portraits of women, which he often depicted in a playful, almost erotic manner. In the last few years of his life, his health declined rapidly from presumed “blood poisoning”. Anders Zorn died in 1920 at just 60 years old.

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