I was surprised to discover that Carl Larsson had a sad, harsh life spent in poverty during his early years. One would never guess that by looking at his beautiful, serene paintings of his life after marriage.
He painted with oils without much public success before marriage. After marrying his wife Karin and switching to watercolors he found more fame as a painter. His eight children and family life in beautiful Sundborn in a little cottage by the river made for unending, lovely subject matter.
I found this reproduction print a few months ago and even though it has scratches on it as if it had been stuck to another piece of glass at one time I still love it. All of his work has a special softness to it.
This print is called Papa’s Room. I’m especially drawn to it because as a child I always wanted a big, bed with curtains in the middle of the room like a fort. A private little fort to hide away and read all day in secret. I love the bookshelves in the painting. I could certainly use bookshelves that go all the way around my room. As a matter of fact my granddaughter does have that in her room, custom built by her father and I think Carl Larsson himself would approve of the soft happy colors her room is painted in.
I read that Carl and his wife did not share a bedroom as most married people do. His wife slept with the children (most of the time, obviously not always) and Carl had a room to himself. I am a huge fan of that myself. Just think of all the snuggling with babies and toddlers. All of the goodnight stories and books. Plus he probably snored like most men do!
Other works of Carl Larsson that I like are:
In the Carpenter Shop
Brita in The Drawing Room
The Skier
The Verandah
Bridge In Grez
Flowers on the Windowsill
Breakfast under The Big Birch
and both paintings of his studio, left and right.
Here are two more sites about Carl Larsson that you might enjoy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson?uselang=pt
http://www.carllarsson.se/enstart.aspx
You can also find a lot of his work, reprints on canvas and notecards and such on Ebay.
Booksphotographsandartwork's Blog 
not very good at art appreciation..I either like it or don’t like it but the story of his life certainly makes the pictures more interesting
I can understand why he did not sleep with his wife. Life is much more peaceful when you have your own bed. I share mine with two cuddly bears
Thanks for the sneak peek into his life.
Hubby and I share a king bed. I block out his snoring with pillows lined up between us like a fort. That and ear plugs have been doing the trick as of now. We all do…what we gotta do to live…and let live. 🙂
my cottage was inspired by Carl Larson. When I told my friends I was going to create a red and green kitchen, they all went anxiously silent.
I love the falun red he used everywhere.
http://www.gosherdcottage.com
What a beautiful place you have!! Oh I wish I could travel, your place would be a serene wonderful place to stay. Thank you so much for responding to my post and sharing your wonderful Bed and Breakfast. The tucked away beds are adorable.
I think I am going to recreate this beautiful chalk white bedroom for myself this winter in my barn loft, in my own bedroom.
A barn loft? How fun! I would love to see pictures of it once you are finished!!
my B&B was inspired by his work, it is the original farm’s homestead. Now that it is completed, not really, I still have to do some mural work on the walls in the kitchen, I want to concentrate on my own place. Here is the link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7qvmSXToAc
How wonderful! What a fabulous life you have. Thanks for sending me the link to the video. If I could travel I would come visit.
🙂 If I could travel (impossible when you farm) Id go to Sweden to see his place. That would be great. When I complete my bedroom in the loft I will send it to you.
Altho things just changed with a beautiful chinese art deco rug I just bought and cant flip. I just love it too much to resell it. Maybe Ill get tired of it though!
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