13 Facts About Carl Larsson

Carl Larsson is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life.

Carl Larsson considered his finest work to be Midvinterblot, a large painting now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.

Carl Larsson's parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy.

Renate Puvogel, in her book Carl Larsson, gives detailed information about Larsson's life: "His mother was thrown out of the house, together with Carl and his brother Johan; after enduring a series of temporary dwellings, the family moved into Grev Magnigrand No 7 in what was then Ladugardsplan, present-day Ostermalm".

Carl Larsson's father worked as a casual laborer, sailed as a stoker on a ship headed for Scandinavia, and lost the lease to a nearby mill, only to work there later as a mere grain carrier.

In contrast, Carl Larsson's mother worked long hours as a laundress to provide for her family.

Carl Larsson was not eager to establish contact with the French progressive Impressionists; instead, along with other Swedish artists, he cut himself off from the radical movement of change.

In Grez, Carl Larsson painted some of his most important works, now in watercolour and very different from the oil painting technique he had previously employed.

Many of the interiors depicted were the work of Karin Carl Larsson, who worked as an interior designer.

Carl Larsson died later that month in Falun and was buried in the cemetery of Sundborn Church.

Carl Larsson's popularity increased considerably with the development of colour reproduction technology in the 1890s, when the Swedish publisher Bonnier published books written and illustrated by Carl Larsson and containing full colour reproductions of his watercolours, titled A Home.

Carl and Karin Larsson declared themselves overwhelmed by such success.

Carl Larsson considered his monumental works, such as his frescos in schools, museums and other public buildings, to be his most important works.