What an utterly fascinating woman! It appears to me that she put into practice Morris' suggestion to have nothing in one's house unless it was useful or beautiful. As I read your piece this morning, I thought about what her life might have felt like to her. She had space and support to be creative. She had freedom of movement and thought. And, to a great degree, she had freedom to make her life what she wanted. Those were all revolutionary and I would think she had such delight in those options. The angel in the house culture was so pervasive that it seems to me that she found the space to defy much of that suffocating culture. The fact that Larsson seems to draw his muse from the life she created indicates to me the power she held in the household. More than that, her creativity found an outlet in things that the family needed -- clothing, household textiles, furniture, and so on. I wonder, too, if perhaps her greatest legacy is not the tangible, but the intangible. What effects did her choices make on her children and those around her? The fact we are touched, intrigued, admiring, of her life suggests that her influence is still rippling .... not bad for a woman who appears to have not expected or sought appreciation for her creativity or life....
Very interesting, and I'm really conflicted about this. I'm not remotely an artist, so I don't know what it would be like to put aside a wellspring of creativity, even if it was redirected into other outlets. How much of it was unthinkingly conforming to the norms, and even then, did she have a pang of regret? I've been reading "Millions Like Us", by Virginia Nicholson, and have been struck by the relief with which many women gave up work after the war and went back to being housewives. I imagine if you were working in a munitions factory that would be easy to do, but if you had been breaking codes or translating French and German, wouldn't it have been hard? Whatever she felt, running 7 children and a labour-intensive home didn't deflect her from creating in the domestic sphere. One wonders how Carl would have coped with that!
Fascinating. This reminds me of something the artist Anne Redpath said: “Young women often come up to me and say, ‘I’m going to be like you and give up everything for painting’ but that’s not how I see it at all. I could never have sacrificed my family to painting…We lived in France…and I put everything I had into the house and furniture and dresses and good food and people. All that’s the same as painting really, and the experience went back into art when I began painting again.” (Quoted p9 of Anne Redpath 1895-1965 published by National Galleriies of Scotland.) This seems to me to be the very heart of your work, Jane. It raises a lot of questions on how we value different types of creativity.
Thanks for the brilliant Anne Redpath quote (and of course I love her paintings). Such an interesting question, because the so-called gatekeepers of culture seriously undervalue this sort of creativity!
Your writing and insights are wonderful. I wasn't familiar with these two artists, but your photos of their work caught my eye (his paintings and her textiles, both). I've enjoyed learning about them. You've made a convincing case that an artist can make their home and domestic life an art. Without knowing anything more about them, other than what you've written, I can see that others would have an opposing view of what her life must have been like. If I had learned about them elsewhere, I'm sure I'd be one of those with the opposite view. I'm left with so many questions. Did they have hired help, i.e. servants, maids? I'm wondering how she did it. It seems a luxury to be able to immerse oneself so completely in family and home, especially with seven children, so expressively, and still have time to design and create unique art, even if her art was 'practical' work, such as clothing and furnishings. Looking forward to hearing more after you've read the biography!
Good morning, Jane. I have really enjoyed reading your recent posts about Sweden and all things Swedish. When I was a student in the 1960s I was a babysitter for a Swedish family and loved their style and taste. They introduced me to all sorts of (to me) exotic food, which I'd never experienced in Huddersfield at the time - like courgettes and aubergines - but also brown cheese and pepperkakor and surstromming. When I had a proper grown up house of my own, I painted it Gustavian Grey but never captured the Larsson ambience, to which I aspired!
Hello Joan, it sounds similar to my Stockport/Stockholm epiphany, except I was much older when I realised how much I liked Swedish style and everyday culture. What a great way to glimpse a different way of living, so very different to Huddersfield!
Fascinating as always Jane. Perhaps each of them needed the other to be the way they were to fulfil what they wanted to do and be. I didn’t see the exhibition as I was grappling with a very premature baby at the time but I do admire their world as it mirrors mine in that my husband is infinitely supportive of everything I do and perhaps that is what Carl offered her. It would be interesting to know what her children and grandchildren think and know wouldn’t it?
What an utterly fascinating woman! It appears to me that she put into practice Morris' suggestion to have nothing in one's house unless it was useful or beautiful. As I read your piece this morning, I thought about what her life might have felt like to her. She had space and support to be creative. She had freedom of movement and thought. And, to a great degree, she had freedom to make her life what she wanted. Those were all revolutionary and I would think she had such delight in those options. The angel in the house culture was so pervasive that it seems to me that she found the space to defy much of that suffocating culture. The fact that Larsson seems to draw his muse from the life she created indicates to me the power she held in the household. More than that, her creativity found an outlet in things that the family needed -- clothing, household textiles, furniture, and so on. I wonder, too, if perhaps her greatest legacy is not the tangible, but the intangible. What effects did her choices make on her children and those around her? The fact we are touched, intrigued, admiring, of her life suggests that her influence is still rippling .... not bad for a woman who appears to have not expected or sought appreciation for her creativity or life....
Very interesting, and I'm really conflicted about this. I'm not remotely an artist, so I don't know what it would be like to put aside a wellspring of creativity, even if it was redirected into other outlets. How much of it was unthinkingly conforming to the norms, and even then, did she have a pang of regret? I've been reading "Millions Like Us", by Virginia Nicholson, and have been struck by the relief with which many women gave up work after the war and went back to being housewives. I imagine if you were working in a munitions factory that would be easy to do, but if you had been breaking codes or translating French and German, wouldn't it have been hard? Whatever she felt, running 7 children and a labour-intensive home didn't deflect her from creating in the domestic sphere. One wonders how Carl would have coped with that!
Fascinating. This reminds me of something the artist Anne Redpath said: “Young women often come up to me and say, ‘I’m going to be like you and give up everything for painting’ but that’s not how I see it at all. I could never have sacrificed my family to painting…We lived in France…and I put everything I had into the house and furniture and dresses and good food and people. All that’s the same as painting really, and the experience went back into art when I began painting again.” (Quoted p9 of Anne Redpath 1895-1965 published by National Galleriies of Scotland.) This seems to me to be the very heart of your work, Jane. It raises a lot of questions on how we value different types of creativity.
Thanks for the brilliant Anne Redpath quote (and of course I love her paintings). Such an interesting question, because the so-called gatekeepers of culture seriously undervalue this sort of creativity!
Your writing and insights are wonderful. I wasn't familiar with these two artists, but your photos of their work caught my eye (his paintings and her textiles, both). I've enjoyed learning about them. You've made a convincing case that an artist can make their home and domestic life an art. Without knowing anything more about them, other than what you've written, I can see that others would have an opposing view of what her life must have been like. If I had learned about them elsewhere, I'm sure I'd be one of those with the opposite view. I'm left with so many questions. Did they have hired help, i.e. servants, maids? I'm wondering how she did it. It seems a luxury to be able to immerse oneself so completely in family and home, especially with seven children, so expressively, and still have time to design and create unique art, even if her art was 'practical' work, such as clothing and furnishings. Looking forward to hearing more after you've read the biography!
A quick note to thank you for this post - and all of your beautiful posts. I look forward to every new column.
Karin sounds like a woman after your own heart!
Fascinating! How she had the time to do all of that whilst bringing up seven children with an often absent husband I can’t imagine!
Good morning, Jane. I have really enjoyed reading your recent posts about Sweden and all things Swedish. When I was a student in the 1960s I was a babysitter for a Swedish family and loved their style and taste. They introduced me to all sorts of (to me) exotic food, which I'd never experienced in Huddersfield at the time - like courgettes and aubergines - but also brown cheese and pepperkakor and surstromming. When I had a proper grown up house of my own, I painted it Gustavian Grey but never captured the Larsson ambience, to which I aspired!
Hello Joan, it sounds similar to my Stockport/Stockholm epiphany, except I was much older when I realised how much I liked Swedish style and everyday culture. What a great way to glimpse a different way of living, so very different to Huddersfield!
Fascinating as always Jane. Perhaps each of them needed the other to be the way they were to fulfil what they wanted to do and be. I didn’t see the exhibition as I was grappling with a very premature baby at the time but I do admire their world as it mirrors mine in that my husband is infinitely supportive of everything I do and perhaps that is what Carl offered her. It would be interesting to know what her children and grandchildren think and know wouldn’t it?
Definitely, but I'm finding it hard to discover more - not helped by my non-Ordel/non-existent Swedish!
Loved his paintings when I was younger but how wonderful was she.