Anders Zorn

Swedish 1860-1920

Showing unusual talent in the wooden figures he carved as a child, Anders Zorn was, at fifteen, already a student of the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm. A painting of a young girl in mourning, displayed at a student exhibition in 1880 propelled him into the art world and Zorn was soon in high demand for commissioned portraits.

A believer in natural surroundings, Zorn was known for capturing his subjects in nature as opposed to a studio setting. Though his initial acclaim was for paintings, it wasn’t long before Zorn’s highly accomplished etchings were of equal interest to an increasingly awed audience throughout Europe and North America. His skill with the etching needle has been attributed, in part, to his carving abilities, and Zorn retained his early interest in sculpture throughout his career.

Travelling to Chicago in 1893 for the World Fair, Zorn first stopped in New York, where the Keppel Gallery held his first American exhibition, with huge success. By 1928, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, had acquired well over a hundred of Zorn’s etchings. This son of an unmarried dairy-maid had become one of the most actively collected printmakers of the twentieth century.

Today, Zorn’s etchings are once again in high demand. Boston’s Childs Gallery continues to hold Zorn Exhibitions and are continuously adding to their extensive collection. Other recent Zorn exhibitions have been held at the Spencer Museum, University of Kansas, the Gardner Museum, Boston and the Fogg Museum, Harvard. Still immensely popular in his native Sweden, Zorn’s work can be found in major collections throughout Europe.