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Karin Bergöö Larsson

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Karin Bergöö Larsson, photographed around 1882
Still Life with Fruit and Tankard, 1877 painting by Karin Larsson
rocking chair designed by Karin Larsson

Karin Larsson, née Bergöö, (3 October 1859 – 18 February 1928) was a Swedish artist and designer who collaborated with her husband, Carl Larsson, as well as being often depicted in his paintings.

Early life and education

Karin Bergöö was born in Örebro and grew up in Hallsberg, where her father, Adolf Bergöö, was a successful businessman. She showed early artistic talent, and after attending the French School in Stockholm, studied at the Slöjdskolan (Handicrafts School; now Konstfack) and from 1877 to 1882 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. After completing her studies there, she went to Grez-sur-Loing, outside Paris, where there was a colony of Scandinavian artists, to continue painting.

Life with Carl Larsson

In Grez-sur-Loing she met Carl Larsson; they fell in love and in 1883 returned to Stockholm and were married, returning together to Grez-sur-Loing, where their first child, Suzanne, was born in 1884. The following year, they returned to Sweden.

In 1888 the Larssons went to Paris, on the suggestion of Pontus Fürstenberg of Gothenburg, who wanted a large painting by Carl to add to his art collection. They left their two children with Karin's parents in Hallsberg, and upon their return a year later, decorated the Bergöös' new house. They then moved into Lilla Hyttnäs, a stuga (cottage) in Sundborn on the outskirts of Falun where her father had been born. They enlarged it to accommodate their growing family and it became famous as the Larsson farm.

Karin acted as a sounding-board and critic for Carl's work, in addition to being his primary model. With children and a large house to manage, she channelled her own artistic impulses into design. She designed and wove a large amount of the textiles used in the house, and designed some of her own and the children's clothes, and some of the furniture. For example the pinafores worn by her and other women who worked at Sundborn, known as karinförkläde in Swedish, were a practical design by her. The style in which the house was decorated and furnished created a new, recognisably Swedish style: "In total contrast to the prevailing style of dark heavy furnishings, its bright interiors incorporated an innovative blend of Swedish folk design and fin de siècle influences, including Japonisme and Arts and Crafts ideas from Britain."[1]

She is buried in Sundborn cemetery.

Paintings of Karin Larsson by her husband, Carl Larsson
With her daughter Suzanne in Grez-sur-Loing, 1885
In her kitchen with her children, 1901

References

  1. ^ Tina Manoli and Nicola Costaras, "Preparations for 'Carl and Karin Larsson: Creators of the Swedish Style'", Conservation Journal, Victoria and Albert Museum, 25, October 1997.

Further reading

  • Ingrid Andersson. Karin Larsson: Konstnär och konstnärshustru. Stockholm: Gidlunds, 1986. ISBN 9789178440696