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Author: Matt_Viinanen, Contributing Editor
Travels, 1881-1888 |
| Alone from his school friends, Zorn chose to visit England influenced largely by his student visit in 1876, where he observed a five hundred piece exhibition by fellow countryman, Egron Lundgren's (1815-1875). His reverence for Egron had rendered him unreceptive to other techniques and styles used with watercolours, and had led him to vindicate his national identity and establish himself with a career as a great watercolourist.
In 1881 he set off for London with a 'letter of credit' from the Bank of Scandinavia - it was to be his station for the next four years. During this time he journeyed to Spain via Paris, encountering the works of Velázquez, Courbet, Manet, Renoir, Monet, Sargent and Makart amongst others. Upon exposure to these works, Zorn was forced to reconsider his own seductive way of handling watercolours, and so during this period of travel he became acquainted with the artistic movement of realism. Although realism did not significantly affect Zorn's anecdotal view, it brought a certain eloquence to his brushstrokes, and fluency in colour/value relationships. Zorn had begun to explore what was to become the essence of his art - the ability to draw the viewer into the creative process. "An evening in June" 1886, watercolor 14"x10" |  |
| Now a married man, the period between 1885-1888 became one of great significance. As a member of the resistance movement Zorn found himself in the forefront of politics that spoke against the Academy's aging education plans. It was also a time for travel and a honing of his skills.
Zorn's marriage was frequently put under strain during these three to four years having never properly recovered from the tension present in their engagement years. From reading between the lines of his personal letters, there is a sense that Anders felt threatened by his wife's lofty background, and at the same time felt his freedom as an artist under some pressure. It was the Lamm family who had insisted that a prenuptial agreement was signed, stating that their respective wealth and assets would be forever kept separate, yet when their marriage had begun, it was Zorn who had to live off his wife's assets. In March 1885, his half-sister Anna had died as a result of poverty and disease. Such experiences drove Anders to reassert his distinctive character and vindicate his origin. |
| An incident in 1887 tells us something about Ander's feelings. The couple were out traveling in England when Emma's mother called for them to come home urgently. Zorn refused to part from London and his income of one hundred and fifty dollars that was waiting for him (payment for a portrait), he had retorted, "your mother isn't worth one hundred and fifty dollars" (which was more than the cost of his own mother's house). In 1886 and 1887 Zorn began purchasing land in Mora, to help Mona (Mona is Mora slang for Mother). Despite it placing Emma into an awkward position, she always stayed loyal to her husband’s decisions.
In 1885, Zorn alongside other members of the resistance went to Paris for a meeting. Here they composed the now historical document that proposed changes to the plan of education for the Honorable Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The constitution for the Association of Artists was composed here also, and still offers aid to artists in Sweden today with very flattering prices on materials in any field of art, up to a fifth off recommended retail prices. In 1886 Zorn could title himself Court Artist following a commission to paint a portrait of the two princes, Gustaf Adolf and Vilhelm, as a gift to the German council in Stockholm, who subsequently sent it onto the Emperor, Wilhelm I. This was an opportunity Zorn spoke warmly about in his autobiography. As is the way with success and jealousy, some suspicions were aroused by Zorn's progress; he was sometimes excluded from meetings with the resistance, when he clearly would have attended. Inevitably, as Zorn and his work traveled the world, invitations would arise, such as the 'Egron Lundberg Medal of outstanding achievements in Watercolours'. In such situations the group urged him to decline the decoration. Although it may not be said that Zorn was disloyal to the movement, he showed little interest in their causes or superiority and remained open minded and benevolent in his attitudes toward beneficiaries, clients and royalties. |
 | Emma and Zorn's honeymoon met with his wishes. Initially he first thought of China and India, but later settled for Transylvania and Constantinople, places that inspired Zorn with their potential and possibilities. Passing through Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, they found themselves in a small mountain village in Hungary, called Nagy-Enyed, and here he found: "Gypsies and swine". Zorn sought interesting people, whose faces could tell a hundred interesting stories. His ambition was to establish his skills in watercolour portraits, and in the genre art buyers would ordinarily be interested in. As he stated many times: "I want my portraits to also be paintings with a story." His intention was to make it big by becoming a travel writer, yet one who spoke through pictures, not words.
Zorn spent all his days painting, and at Christmas, in Constantinople, he produced some marvellous paintings of the locals. It was here that he first started studying the surface of water, which later he was to become a master at depicting. Emma and Anders spent the holiday with the Swedish/Norwegian legation, a group of people Zorn described as, "a bunch of filthy and disgusting, political fools". The stay was to take a dramatic turn when Zorn was taken ill with a life threatening typhoid fever, terrifying both his family back home, and Mr. Cassel, Zorn's guardian in England, who sent a messenger to let Zorn know that any required resources would be provided for. Mr. Cassel had his personal doctor stand by, prepared to leave on the spot. However, it was Emma who managed to control the fever over a period of two months, and it wasn't until the end of March that year that he had enough strength to return home to Mora. By June they had reached Sweden. After the typhoid feever, photograph from 1886. |
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