Inspirational Artists: Anders Zorn

Anders

Leonard Zorn early works were often brilliant, luminous watercolours but he then switches to oils and throughout his life he was a prolific artist. He had a distinctive style and use of a colour palette and was a contemporary of Singer Sargent and Sorolla. He too was one of the highly-acclaimed portrait painters of his era. His sitters included three American Presidents, nobility, the Swedish king and queen and numerous members of high society. Zorn is also famous for painting nudes and his fondness of painting full-figured women gave rise to the terms Zorn's kulla or dalakulla, an unmarried woman or girl from the region Zorn lived.

Zorn (1860-1920) was one of Sweden's foremost artists and was born and raised on his grandparents' farm in Yvraden. From 1875 to 1880 Zorn studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, where he amazed his teachers with his talent. He travelled extensively to London, Paris, Spain, Italy and the US and was internationally acclaimed primarily as a portrait painter.