COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0000577
image_record_id
aahi0000577
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Mrs. Anna Heyman with Flowers
Work Dates (display):
2nd half 19th to early 20th century
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851-1906)
Work Creator gender:
male
work_creator_or_agent_gender
male
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
Swedish painter, draughtsman and poet. He came from a culturally distinguished Jewish family and trained (186776) at the Akademi för de Fria Konsterna in Stockholm. Frequent journeys in western and northern Europe allowed him to copy Old Master paintings, and he studied briefly with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1874. He copied especially works by Velázquez, Raphael, Titian and above all Rembrandt, whom he took as his principal model both as colourist and as a draughtsman. After further travel abroad in the late 1870s, Josephson settled in France in 1879. Up to this time he produced largely historical and biblical subjects in the spirit of the Renaissance. David and Saul (1878; Stockholm, Nmus.) recalls Rembrandt's work in its psychological intensity, achieved through the emphasis on two figures in a dark setting. Josephson remained in France until 1888: at first in Paris and after 1886 in the country, finally on the Ile de Bréhat off the Brittany coast. His sociable, cheerful and dynamic personality made him the centre of a large group of Scandinavian painters, most of whom had left their own countries in reaction to the conservative artistic climate and old-fashioned academic training. Josephson became one of the leaders of the modernist group Opponenterna (the Opponents) aiming to bring about radical reforms, and he published two inflammatory articles on artistic training. His own painting style, however, was far from resolved: his first contribution to the Paris Salon in 1881, the portrait of Godfrey Renholm (1880; Stockholm, Nmus.), bears traces of his admiration for Raphael. His second version of Spanish Blacksmiths (1882; Oslo, N.G.; earlier version 1881; Stockholm, Nmus.), with freer brushwork reminiscent of Frans Hals and Velázquez, was regarded as too bold to be admitted to the Salon of 1882. After he had settled in France, Josephson's work began to reveal a stronger influence from contemporary painters such as Edouard Manet. In his portraits, however, Josephson combined a freely executed impressionistic treatment of the background with foreground accessories and facial features executed with sensitive detail to interpret spiritual mood, the psychic dimension that always constituted the core of his interest in the sitter, as in the portrait of Jeanette Rubenson (1883; Göteborg, Kstmus.). The principal subject of Josephson's work of the 1880s was the mythical water sprite, a character both dangerous and tragic from Scandinavian mythology, condemned to play its fiddle eternally in the midst of rushing streams, expressing with music a longing for salvation, yet also enticing listeners to their deaths by drowning. Josephson started his studies on this theme in 1878, but his first painting was made in 1882: Water Sprite (Göteborg, Kstmus.; see fig.). Here the scene is dominated by a sombre mood, conveyed in dark, saturated colours. His major treatment of the theme, however, is quite different in tone: Josephson used live models from Eggedal in Norway, and showed the water sprite in dazzling sunshine, playing on a golden fiddle (Water Sprite, 1884; Stockholm, Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde). Like many mythological scenes painted by the German artist Arnold Böcklin, these works also comment on the artist's own situation; in their attitude to nature they link late 19th-century Symbolism with early 19th-century Romanticism. Josephson shared the interest in occult phenomena common in the 1880s and 1890s, and it was in connection with spiritualist séances at the Ile de Bréhat in 1887 that his mental instability first became apparent. From this time he suffered continuously from a form of schizophrenia, although he recovered sufficiently from the more severe attacks to be able to continue painting and drawing. He was, in fact, extraordinarily prolific. One of the more curious features of his work was his conviction that certain Old Masters were continuing to work 'through' him; he therefore felt able to sign drawings on their behalf. During the period of instability that continued after his return to Sweden in 1888, Josephson produced many paintings of a visionary character: the portrait of Ludvig Josephson (1893; Stockholm, Nmus.) is characterized by a bold, graphic treatment of the image, and the Goose Girl (c. 1890; Stockholm, Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde) is striking for its use of colour contrast. The most remarkable work of Josephson's last years, however, is to be found among the drawings (over 1000 sheets) where his means alternate between a simple contour style, a detailed ornamental embroidery of strokes and dots, and a dramatic use of ink-stain technique. Josephson's illness, which brought a regression into a childlike fantasy world, allowed great liberty in the approach to external reality without in general impairing the control of means of expression. He could thus accommodate into his work personal thoughts, dreams and visions in which historical, religious and literary figures occupied an important place. Through their expressiveness and visual power, these late works anticipate certain expressionistic forms of modern art. While far from universally appreciated during his lifetime, Josephson was recognized soon after his death, especially in Germany. He also came to have an influence on Expressionist and naive art in Sweden. Although his work during his lifetime was regarded as multifaceted and contradictory, he was eventually regarded as an accomplished colourist and one of the most individual and original of late 19th-century Swedish painters. (Grove Art Online accessed 2007-10-18)
Work Style Period:
Symbolist
work_styleperiod
Symbolist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
19th century
work_styleperiod
19th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
women (female humans)
subject
women (female humans)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
flowers (plants)
subject
flowers (plants)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
portraits
subject
portraits
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
lace (needlework)
subject
lace (needlework)
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
paint
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Nationalmuseum (Sweden)
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
repository
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid:
6271
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid type:
accession
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Stockholm, Sweden
Image Rights (display):
© Ronald Wiedenhoeft. Licensed for educational use via Scholars Resource: Saskia, Ltd.
Image Rights license agreement:
SASKIA, LTD.: WHO CAN USE THIS SOFTWARE: (a) Licensee, including faculty, staff and currently enrolled students may use the Licensed Software to display and or print the corresponding graphic images without limitation for teaching and research purposes at the defined Sites, or at remote locations having electronic access to your Site(s). (b) This license include permission to use the Licensed Software on a multi-user network at the defined Site, and to permit remote access to a computer/server located at your Site. Simultaneous display in multiple locations at or connected to the Site is also permitted. (c) Licensee agrees to employ reasonable security measures designed to limit access to your faculty, staff and currently enrolled students. PROHIBITED USES AND LIMITATIONS: (a) Saskia hereby reserves all rights not expressly granted herein. (b) the License Software may not be used for preparaiton of any publication, scholarly or otherwise; or for any purpose other than teaching or research. Publication of an image from the Licensed Software requires a separate license from Saskia. (c) Licensee agrees not to resell, lease, transfer, sub-license or otherwise distribute a copy of the Licensed Software, or any image taken from the Licensed Software, in whole or in part. (d) Licensee also agrees not to modify, corrupt or alter any digital image graphic content or "digital watermark" or the like in the software provided by Saskia under this Agreement. (e) Licensee agrees not to remove, alter, cover or distort Saskia's copyright notice, trademark, or other proprietary rights notice placed by Saskia in the Licensed Software itself, or in the associated packaging, media or documentation. (f) And Licensee agrees to notify users of the Licensed Software, in writing or by sign-on screen display, of their obligations under this Agreement and solicit their cooperation and compliance with such obligations.
Work Rights (display):
public domain
Terms of Agreement and Conditions of Use:
YOU AGREE: Luna Imaging's Insight Software and the digital image collection associated with it (the Software) are being provided by the University of Colorado under the following license. By obtaining, using, and/or copying this work, you (the Licensee) agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the following terms and conditions. 1. The Software contains the University of Colorado's Department of Art and Art History's implementation of a digital image collection; 2. Any images obtained through use of the Software will be used only for non-profit, educational purposes; 3. The use of images obtained through the software will only be used while the Licensee is either: a) an employee of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver, or b) an enrolled student at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver; 4. When the Licensee is no longer an employee or student of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or Community College of Denver, either by an action of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or the Community College of Denver or due to actions of the Licensee, the licensee will cease to use any images exported from the Department of Art and Art History's digital image collection; 5. The Licensee agrees to indemnify the University for claims and liability arising out of the use of the Software or for any violations of this license; 6. THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SUPPLIES THE SOFTWARE WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see