Christmas roses (Roses de Noël/Julroser)

Details

CARL LARSSON (STOCKHOLM 1853-1919 FALUN)
Christmas roses (Roses de Noël/Julroser)
signed 'C. Larsson' (lower right)
oil on canvas
19 ¾ x 14 ¼ in. (50 x 36 cm.)
Painted in 1889.

Provenance

(Probably) Acquired from the artist by Pontus Fürstenburg, Gothenburg, 1892.
Mary Fürstenburg, Gothenburg from 1920.
Dr. Nils Levin, 1964 (by descent)
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 21 November 1989, lot 71.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

G. Nordensvan, Carl Larsson, Stockholm 1921, vol. II, p. 224.
U. Neergaard, Carl Larsson, Signerat med pensel och penna, Stockholm 1999, vol. I, p. 120; vol. II, p. 42, no. 398.

Exhibited

(Probably) Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Karl Larssons Minneststalling, 1920, no. 289, as 'Rosor' and dated 1893, lent by Mary Fürstenburg.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Lucy Speelman Junior Specialist, Head of Part II

lspeelman@christies.com +44 207 752 3074

Lot Essay

Carl Larsson wrote to his wife Karin on 24 November 1889 from Paris, stating, 'Yesterday I came from Grez very pleased with myself, because during the short time there I had painted a very good watercolour (...) and a magnificently successful flower painting, which I intend to give to Coquelin...'. In the letter was a little sketch of this flower painting titled Roses de Noel.

Coquelin was a famous actor and Carl Larsson's benefactor in France. It is assumed that Larsson changed his mind about giving the work to Coquelin since it appears to have been initially in the family collection of Pontus Fürstenberg.

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