The Vine
About the painting
The Vine can be interpreted as a light-hearted allegory of love – the woman harvests the grapes for the wine that intoxicates the man. With his great technical virtuosity, Carl Larsson was excellently equipped to succeed in the Neo-Rococo genre, which relied to a great extent on the ability to paint with illusory brilliance. The Vine was bought by Herman Friedländer when it was shown at the Opponent Exhibition Vid Seinens strand (On the Seine River Bank) in Stockholm in 1885. Friedländer later lent it to the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889.
Nationalmuseum
Particulars
Meanwhile, in the life of Carl Olof Larsson
The whole life1882
From Barbizon to the Scandinavian colony at Grez-sur-Loing
After two summers in Barbizon, the refuge of the plein-air painters, in 1882 he settled for a time with his Swedish colleagues at Grez-sur-Loing, a Scandinavian artists’ colony outside Paris.
1882–1883
Meets Karin Bergöö, a turning point in his life
At Grez he met the artist Karin Bergöö, who would soon become his wife. The meeting was a turning point in his life.
1883
Marries Karin Bergöö
In 1883 he married Karin Bergöö; she also worked as an interior designer, and many of the interiors he depicted were her work.
12 June 1883
Married: Karin Larsson
1884
Daughter born: Suzanne Larsson
1886–1891
Director of the Valand School in Gothenburg
In 1886 he accepted the post of director of the Valand School of Fine Art in Gothenburg, which he held until 1891. Among his pupils was Ester Almqvist, to whom he dedicated an etching.
