Carl Larsson

Carl Robert Lamm, Näsby Slott, Djursholm (hand-written inscription on the reverse Från Lamms samlingar på Näsby)
Sale: Nordén, Stockholm, 25-26 November 1999, lot 157
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner 

Ulwa Neergaard, Carl Larsson, Stockholm, 1999, vol. I, p. 167, illustrated; vol. II, p. 59, no. 629, catalogued

Executed in 1894, this idyllic evocation of childhood depicts Carl Larsson’s seven year old son in the Larssons' family home in Stora Glasbruksgatan, Stockholm, at Christmas time. Standing in his nightgown with a toy in his hand, he wears a casque on his head to add to the festive mood. Behind Ulf, the table is draped with a cloth designed and embroidered by Karen Larsson for her husband, with the letters CARL spelled out. To the left of the candlesticks is a silver cup which was gifted to Ulf by his grandmother and engraved with both his name and the date. Charming in its spontaneity, the work was unrecorded until 1999.

The picture’s first owner, the industrialist Carl Robert Lamm, was a friend and admirer of Larsson. He assembled one of the greatest collections of contemporary Swedish art of his time. Lamm took an interest in Larsson’s work from early on in his career. He made his first acquisition in 1886; this was followed by many more during subsequent years, including commissioned portraits of members of his family between 1894 and 1917.