291. ANNA GARDELL-ERICSON. “Gösta Berling's saga”.

Watercolour on paper, 46 x 62 cm. Signed Anna Gardell- Ericson.

Born in 1853, watercolorist Anna Gardell developed her talent and talent during a time when open-air painting was to be established and flourishing. Women's abilities to emerge as artists were inferior to men's, but through her talent, straightforwardness and social ability, Anna Gardell would achieve great success both in Sweden and internationally. This year Stockholms Auktionsverk has the privilege of offering the public a large collection of watercolours from Anna Gardell's oeuvre. The works give a fair view of her great skill in depicting the multifaceted beauty of surroundings.

Anna Gardell was born in Visby, as the eldest child in a crowd of five, in a home described as cultural and loving. The father, Lars, was a city comrade and his mother Emma, née Nyberg, took care of the children and made sure to maintain a large society in the “visbysocieteten”. Art and music were a natural part of family life, and Anna was praised for her piano playing. As a fifteen-year-old, she therefore went to Lausanne in Switzerland to develop her playing, but once in place she was drawn to painting, which changed her future plans. Once at home, her canvases were filled with depictions of Gotland nature, which led to studies at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1871 and 1878. It was the room of nature that she preferred to depict, so she often went on trips and excursions around Lake Mälaren and inland to find motifs. The play of light and imprints in lush foliage and paddocks she depicted with light hand in an almost impressionistic manner. Not infrequently there is a human presence in the subject, which adds a romantic dimension that would characterise her painting for life.

Like many Scandinavian artists, Anna Gardell went to Paris for further practice and inspiration. A modernized city in autumn saw her in September 1879. The city had gained wide boulevards and new parks after Baron Haussman's planning for a brighter public space. From the Gare du Nord, Anna Gardell made her way to Madame Jacquinot's guest house on rue Miroménil in the charming and central Eighth Arrondissement. From here it was within walking distance to both the Parc Bagatelle, the Tuileries and the major boulevards. In the guest house lived several young women whom the hostess took on excursions, both to museums and to the large department stores. Madame Jacquinot, who shared her network of contacts, would have a crucial bearing on the future and fate of Ms Gardell. Unlike many of the Scandinavian artists in Paris, Anna Gardell did not attend any private painting school. Instead, she devoted herself to copying the great masters, seeking for herself surroundings, including to Bas-Meudon and to Haut-Meudon, with its vast forest and views of Paris. From the German-French watercolorist Ferdinand Heilbuth, to whom Madame Jacquinot had introduced her, she was advised in her creation.

Many of the Scandinavian artists who went to Paris in the second half of the 19th century lived in the more bohemian district of Montmartre. The men moved more independently in public space, and were often seen in cafés and restaurants in the borough, where the women were seen less frequently. For the women, private gatherings were therefore all the more important, such as artist evenings with sculptor Walter Runeberg in Clichy. The artist Albert Edelfelt, who knew Madame Jacquinot, brought Anna Gardell to one such evening. Anna Gardell writes in her commemorative notes: “One evening a collection of sketches from Concarneau in Brittany was exhibited by Johan Ericson. It was definitely the former student from the Academy whom Per Daniel Holm asked me to say greetings to, so I stepped forward and introduced myself. From the beginning there was a lively conversation and then we met often.” Compare p. 12 Gösta Procopé “The Artist Couple Anna Gardell- Ericson and Johan Ericson” p. He's 68.

Albert Edelfelt also showed Anna Gardell the way to the Paris Salon in 1880. Like his friend, Alfred Wahlberg, he was among the earliest Scandinavians to be inspired by French open-air painting. They were thus well acquainted with the genre and helped Anna Gardell select watercolours for her application for the exhibition. The Paris Salon, the great exhibition of contemporary art, was held in the Louvre and was very well attended, both by the public and by the upper echelons of cultural hegemony and the corps of critics. To be transcribed and seen here, was thus of great dignity. A total of seven pieces of Anna Gardell's work were adopted this year, and she also received fine criticism in the magazine “le Soir”: “Without claiming to be a seer, I can predict that this young artist, who possesses such a beautiful talent, will go far and rise high in her art”, compare p. 12 Gösta Procopé “The Artist Couple Anna Gardell-Ericson and Johan Ericson”

Johan Ericson, her cavalier, invited Anna Gardell to Concarneau in Brittany for the first time in 1881. Here, fresh winds blew and sea met sky, a nice contrast to the intense street life of Paris. The houses had a barren tone and the people led a different kind of lifestyle as fishermen and farmers. The motifs were in many ways similar to those portrayed by Anna Gardell on the Gotland coast. Painting flourished and love blossomed. In 1882 Johan Ericson proposed and two years later their first daughter Yvonne was born.

With the courage of her success, Anna Gardell, now Gardell-Ericson, had sought out the famous consulting firm Goupil, and there received a fixed fee of 1000 francs a month. Through the London and New York branches, her works spread to a wide international arena. The tailwind persisted, and in 1883 she received the medal and diploma at the “Foreign Exhibition” in Boston. She was now an established artist and one of the most successful Scandinavian women of her time in Paris.

After cholera had begun to spread in Paris, the Ericsons moved to Gothenburg in 1884. From here Anna Gardell-Ericson found her motifs on the Bohuslän coast and in the city parks. In the summers, the family lived in Marstrand, making them the most famous artist couple in the area. From here she painted countless views of the sailing of fishing boats at dusk, the people along the quay and of the rocky coast.

Anna Gardell-Ericson's birth year, 1853, she shares with artist Carl Larsson. Despite the differences, there are striking similarities in the life paths of the artists that are worth highlighting. The stays of both in Paris were crucial to their success and they met their respective life companion in another artist there. They also found a decisive belief in their abilities in the French nature that they carried home with them to Sweden. Lifelong love for family and for the art of watercolor, are thus common denominators that nurtured the creativity and achievements of the two artists. Anna Gardell-Ericson moved home from Paris the same year that Carl Larsson arrived, but they were in the same circle and often on each other's periphery. Anna Gardell-Ericson's outstanding brush now deserves to be brought back into the light. Here you can feel the nuances of the water, the human contact with nature and the way the sun turns the canopy and garden into incomparable scenery. Take the opportunity to observe her lyrical depictions and her ability to highlight the shimmer of every moment.