Carl Larsson

Carl Larsson painted his own family and home, and in doing so helped shape the Swedish idea of a happy, light filled home. His pictures show children at breakfast, meals under birch trees and bright rooms painted in pale colours, drawn with clear outlines and fresh watercolour tones.

Born in Stockholm, he trained at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. At the artists’ colony of Grez-sur-Loing in France he met the painter Karin Bergöö, whom he married in 1883. In 1888 they were given a small house, Lilla Hyttnäs, at Sundborn near Falun, which they decorated together. His 1899 book of paintings of it, Ett hem (A Home), made it famous, and the house is still open to visitors. He also painted large murals, including Midvinterblot for the National Museum in Stockholm.

Breakfast under the Big Birch is his most loved image of family life at Sundborn.