Anders Leonard Zorn (1860-1920) was one of Sweden’s foremost artists and gained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching. He was a prolific artist and as one of the most acclaimed portrait painters of his era, his sitters included three American Presidents, nobility, the Swedish king and queen and numerous members of high society. Zorn also painted portraits of family members, friends, and self-portraits.
My introduction to Anders Zorn came while trying to identify what art resonated with me as part of a painting group I attended earlier this year. We were given the task of finding an artist or style that we connected with and attempt to copy one of these pieces to gain a better understanding of their particular style.
My appetite for knowledge about artists and styles grew from that one simple task and while I chose to paint a piece by Richard Schmid at the time, Anders Zorn’s work held great interest for me.
I recently purchased a fantastic book on his work (Anders Zorn – Sweden’s Master Painter) and perusing the wondrous paintings reproduced within its pages has given me the impetus to attempt a painting or two of his in a similar vein to that original task.
Might be the perfect opportunity to try out water mixable oil paints.
