Anders Zorn

The story of the Swedish painter Anders (Leonard) Zorn (1860-1920) is remarkable in many respects. Born the illegitimate child of a seasonal worker and raised in poor circumstances, Zorn became one of the world's most famous artists—mentioned in the same breath as John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla as an Impressionist. Zorn enjoyed early success in watercolor painting, later developing into a master of oil painting and becoming one of the most famous portrait painters of his time. Numerous celebrities, including the American president (1901-1909) Theodore Roosevelt, paid top prices to have their portraits painted by Zorn. However, he not only made a name for himself as a portrait painter, his nudes, often controversial at the time due to their permissiveness but now celebrated as Impressionist masterpieces, are also an important part of his work. Anders Zorn quickly became internationally successful and was already very wealthy during his lifetime. He used this not only as an artist but, together with his wife Emma, as a collector and patron of Swedish art and folk art and supported numerous social projects in his homeland.