The Author August Strindberg

This painting illustrates the relationship between two of the most prominent figures in Swedish cultural history – the painter Carl Larsson and the writer August Strindberg. Strindberg and Carl Larsson met already in the 1870s, and Carl Larsson made illustrations and covers for some of Strindberg’s books during the following decade. This portrait was painted in 1899 and Carl Larsson has described his work with the picture: “We started in the morning, divided the day into three with meals in between, and the next morning, early, Strindberg was standing by my bed at the hotel exclaiming: ‘A masterpiece, do not touch”. This might be the reason for the unfinished character of the picture, where only the eyes are coloured in blue and the rest is still only a charcoal drawing on canvas.
Carl Larsson har berättat att han våndades inför uppgiften att porträttera Strindberg. Efter första dagens sittning var emellertid Strindberg så nöjd att han bad Larsson betrakta arbetet som färdigt. Resultatet blev denna ornamentalt stiliserade kolteckning. Förhållandet mellan Strindberg och Carl Larsson var komplicerat. I En ny blå bok (1908) beskrev Strindberg Larsson som en opålitlig och falsk människa. Carl Larsson tog angreppet mycket hårt och bröt kontakten med Strindberg.