Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn
"Reveil, Boulevard Clichy", 1892
Watercolor, 36 x 24 cm.

He is called "a painter's painter", ranking right up there with John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla. There's no question that he was a virtuoso artist. But his name is hardly a household name nowadays: Anders Zorn.  So who is this Anders Zorn? Born in 1860, he was a Swede, and one of the most acclaimed portrait painters of the Belle Epoque era. In fact, he and Sargent painted portraits of some of the same glamorous clients.

Anders Zorn
"Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice", 1894
Oil, 91 x 66 cm.

I first encountered Zorn's work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It turns out that the Gardner has the finest collection of Zorn's paintings in the United States. I remember to this day how the painting (above) of Isabella Stewart Gardner took my breath away. There is such life in her gestures, and the effect of the light dress against the dark night is so striking. Strong, simple shapes, and  bold gestures. It doesn't get any better than this! (By the way, there's an interesting backstory on this painting, which you can read here.)

Anders Zorn
"Self Portrait with a Model", 1896
Oil on Canvas, 49 x 41.3 cm.

There is so much to say about Zorn, but for this post I will focus on his way he painted whites. His whites are completely astonishing. Whether I am looking at the voluptuous folds of fabrics in the top painting, or the artist's smock in the self-portrait just above, I am amazed. The subtle shifts of color are so sensitively observed. At some level deep inside, I can actually feel the fabric just by looking at the painting. I know whether it is soft or crisp, thick or thin.

Anders Zorn
"Emma Zorn Reading, 1887"
Oil, 40.2 x 60.6 cm.

Zorn's magnificent handling of whites is not limited to fabrics. I love the painting of his wife reading the newspaper, above. There are cool shadows where the paper is shaded, and warm areas where there is some light coming through. Gorgeous! Of course, we can't really see a painting very well from a photo. I'm sad to say that I missed the big Zorn shows in New York and San Francisco over the past few years. That's why I'm especially excited that there is a huge retrospective of Zorn's work scheduled for this fall in Paris. Here's a link to the scoop--and here's hoping that a plane ticket could be in my future!