Decorating With Swedish Country Antiques- Darlene Peterson Buchanan

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America is a land of many immigrants. As many as 1.4 million Swedes immigrated to America between 1840 and 1930. As the descendants of these immigrants and others seek to decorate their homes, it is not surprising that Swedes and non-Swedes alike are looking to Swedish country décor. It offers a colorful Carl Larsson look or the light and airy Gustavian look.

The Swedish people are lovers of color and light. They use all aspects of nature relating to light and its effect in a room. The color and light play off the walls, furnishings and accessories. This decorating style blends perfectly with the Gustavian look of old Sweden or the peasant look depicted by Carl Larsson. By placing a lovely old Swedish antique in a room bathed with light and having the traditional white and blue colors, you can capture the desired Swedish look.

Carl Larsson was a very famous painter in Sweden. He captured the daily life of old Sweden on canvas, and his home is now a museum. It bursts with color, design, shapes, art, creativity and representations of the simple life in Sweden at the turn of the century. This style is very popular and has created a high demand for Swedish antiques in this country.

Read more of this article by Darlene Peterson Buchanan at go-star.com

The Swedish Artist Carl Larsson

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Carl Larsson is Sweden’s most recognized artist who depicted his idyllic life, with wife Karin and their children, in exquisite delicate watercolor paintings.

Born in Stockholm in 1853, he grew up in less than idyllic surroundings, being left by his father for his mother to rear. She worked diligently as a laundress, but earned very little. They lived in squalled conditions and he learned to work very hard as well.

At thirteen he was urged by his school teacher to apply for entry to the Stockholm Academy for Fine Arts. He was accepted, but it took some time for him to acclimate to the new, more refined surroundings.

He continued through school, became an illustrator and later moved to Paris to become an artist. He started painting in oils, but in 1882 having moved to Grez, (a Scandinavian artists’ colony) he transitioned to watercolors, which he mastered in six short months.

This is where he met Karin Bergoo and they soon married in 1883. Five years later Karin’s father gave the couple the house Lilla Hyttnas at Sanborn. This was to be the setting for many of Larsson’s paintings, capturing his life as it unfolded with his wife and their many children.

There were two major influences, whether knowingly or not, that shaped the creativity that took place within the walls of the Larsson home.

In 1891 a major exhibition of the Gustavian Style was compiled, this was in response to the look becoming popular once again in Sweden. This happened to be within the same time frame that the drawing room at Sanborn was redecorated in the fashion it still is today. The Gustavian tenets of light, refinement and unpretentious elegance are evident.

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