The Swedish naturalist artist Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939) is one of the most significant painters of animals of the late 19th and early 20th century. In common with other artists such as Sir Edwin Landseer, Gustave Courbet and the Finnish Von Wright brothers, he managed to bring to life the majesty of the animal in each of his works. Seen completely inside their natural habitat, often devoid of any human contact, he presents the viewer with a realistic depiction of the animal as being totally at one with nature. One will look in vain for "cuteness" in his paintings.
The present painting epitomises all that is best about Liljefors' art. The artist has depicted a mountain hare (Lepus timidus) that is running through the snow in an otherwise desolate landscape, leaving deep footprints behind. A snowy hillock and some trees are all that can be ascertained from the world enveloping the animal. Mountain hares are common in Scandinavia: they normally grow to about 45-65 centimetres tall and are distinguished by the almost perfectly white coat they moult at the onset of winter. Liljefors was given to representing all sorts of wild animals, like foxes, grouse, gulls, but he would often resort to the mountain hare, which he liked to portray in different compositions. Sometimes they will be running straight towards the viewer, whilst at other times they are sitting in the snow, quite still, viewed from the back [1]. The artist always prepared painstakingly for his paintings and would often observe the animals out in the wild for long periods on end in order to capture their movements as accurately as possible.
The composition has been built up with short, sketchy brushstrokes. This gives the landscape around the hare a flat feel, allowing the animal to be absorbed into the surroundings of the snow-covered universe he inhabits. The almost unbroken effect of white-on-white presents the viewer with a sense of silence, far removed from the world occupied by humans. Additionally, we are invited to feel a sense of kinship with the hare as a sentient being: the piercing, observant eye, painted with the slightest of touches, is conducive to that. Liljefors was for ever experimenting with different styles; sometimes he would opt for a dense colour technique, and at other times he would impose structure by ordering the composition into different layers, almost like a collage, or with a high horizon, similar to a Japanese woodblock print.
Bruno Liljefors was born in Uppsala in 1860 and was encouraged to take an interest in animals and the countryside from an early age. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1879-1882, after which he went to Düsseldorf to receive tutelage from the German animal painter C.F. Deiker. After that he travelled to Italy and Paris and In 1884 joined a Swedish artists' colony in Grey-sur-Loing. His stay in France allowed him to become acquainted with French realism and he exhibited at the Paris Salon on numerous occasions. Back in Sweden, in 1885 he exhibited together with an artists' group known as "The Opponents" for their opposition to the stifling strictures of academic painting. His talent as an animal painter was immediately recognised and one of his paintings was bought by the national museum [2].
Throughout the rest of his career Bruno Liljefors exhibited abroad regularly, often together with two other famous Swedish artists: Carl Larson and Anders Zorn. He died in Stockholm in 1939.
______________________________________
1. In the Realm of the Wild. The Art of Bruno Liljefors of Sweden, exh..cat., American Museum of Natural History, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, 1988/89, nrs. 35 and 59.
2. Ibid, pp. 85-6.
The present painting epitomises all that is best about Liljefors' art. The artist has depicted a mountain hare (Lepus timidus) that is running through the snow in an otherwise desolate landscape, leaving deep footprints behind. A snowy hillock and some trees are all that can be ascertained from the world enveloping the animal. Mountain hares are common in Scandinavia: they normally grow to about 45-65 centimetres tall and are distinguished by the almost perfectly white coat they moult at the onset of winter. Liljefors was given to representing all sorts of wild animals, like foxes, grouse, gulls, but he would often resort to the mountain hare, which he liked to portray in different compositions. Sometimes they will be running straight towards the viewer, whilst at other times they are sitting in the snow, quite still, viewed from the back [1]. The artist always prepared painstakingly for his paintings and would often observe the animals out in the wild for long periods on end in order to capture their movements as accurately as possible.
The composition has been built up with short, sketchy brushstrokes. This gives the landscape around the hare a flat feel, allowing the animal to be absorbed into the surroundings of the snow-covered universe he inhabits. The almost unbroken effect of white-on-white presents the viewer with a sense of silence, far removed from the world occupied by humans. Additionally, we are invited to feel a sense of kinship with the hare as a sentient being: the piercing, observant eye, painted with the slightest of touches, is conducive to that. Liljefors was for ever experimenting with different styles; sometimes he would opt for a dense colour technique, and at other times he would impose structure by ordering the composition into different layers, almost like a collage, or with a high horizon, similar to a Japanese woodblock print.
Bruno Liljefors was born in Uppsala in 1860 and was encouraged to take an interest in animals and the countryside from an early age. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1879-1882, after which he went to Düsseldorf to receive tutelage from the German animal painter C.F. Deiker. After that he travelled to Italy and Paris and In 1884 joined a Swedish artists' colony in Grey-sur-Loing. His stay in France allowed him to become acquainted with French realism and he exhibited at the Paris Salon on numerous occasions. Back in Sweden, in 1885 he exhibited together with an artists' group known as "The Opponents" for their opposition to the stifling strictures of academic painting. His talent as an animal painter was immediately recognised and one of his paintings was bought by the national museum [2].
Throughout the rest of his career Bruno Liljefors exhibited abroad regularly, often together with two other famous Swedish artists: Carl Larson and Anders Zorn. He died in Stockholm in 1939.
______________________________________
1. In the Realm of the Wild. The Art of Bruno Liljefors of Sweden, exh..cat., American Museum of Natural History, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, 1988/89, nrs. 35 and 59.
2. Ibid, pp. 85-6.
Winter hare, c. 1910
Signed lower left: Bruno Liljefors
Oil on canvas
36 x 50 cm
Provenance
Private collection, United States;Private collection, United Kingdom
Literature
In the Realm of the Wild. The Art of Bruno Liljefors of Sweden, exhibition.cat., American Museum of Natural History, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, 1988-89, nrs. 35 and 59.
The Swedish naturalist artist Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939) is one of the most significant painters of animals of the late 19th and early 20th century. In common with other artists such as Sir Edwin Landseer, Gustave Courbet and the Finnish Von Wright brothers, he managed to bring to life the majesty of the animal in each of his works. Seen completely inside their natural habitat, often devoid of any human contact, he presents the viewer with a realistic depiction of the animal as being totally at one with nature. One will look in vain for "cuteness" in his paintings.
The present painting epitomises all that is best about Liljefors' art. The artist has depicted a mountain hare (Lepus timidus) that is running through the snow in an otherwise desolate landscape, leaving deep footprints behind. A snowy hillock and some trees are all that can be ascertained from the world enveloping the animal. Mountain hares are common in Scandinavia: they normally grow to about 45-65 centimetres tall and are distinguished by the almost perfectly white coat they moult at the onset of winter. Liljefors was given to representing all sorts of wild animals, like foxes, grouse, gulls, but he would often resort to the mountain hare, which he liked to portray in different compositions. Sometimes they will be running straight towards the viewer, whilst at other times they are sitting in the snow, quite still, viewed from the back [1]. The artist always prepared painstakingly for his paintings and would often observe the animals out in the wild for long periods on end in order to capture their movements as accurately as possible.
The composition has been built up with short, sketchy brushstrokes. This gives the landscape around the hare a flat feel, allowing the animal to be absorbed into the surroundings of the snow-covered universe he inhabits. The almost unbroken effect of white-on-white presents the viewer with a sense of silence, far removed from the world occupied by humans. Additionally, we are invited to feel a sense of kinship with the hare as a sentient being: the piercing, observant eye, painted with the slightest of touches, is conducive to that. Liljefors was for ever experimenting with different styles; sometimes he would opt for a dense colour technique, and at other times he would impose structure by ordering the composition into different layers, almost like a collage, or with a high horizon, similar to a Japanese woodblock print.
Bruno Liljefors was born in Uppsala in 1860 and was encouraged to take an interest in animals and the countryside from an early age. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1879-1882, after which he went to Düsseldorf to receive tutelage from the German animal painter C.F. Deiker. After that he travelled to Italy and Paris and In 1884 joined a Swedish artists' colony in Grey-sur-Loing. His stay in France allowed him to become acquainted with French realism and he exhibited at the Paris Salon on numerous occasions. Back in Sweden, in 1885 he exhibited together with an artists' group known as "The Opponents" for their opposition to the stifling strictures of academic painting. His talent as an animal painter was immediately recognised and one of his paintings was bought by the national museum [2].
Throughout the rest of his career Bruno Liljefors exhibited abroad regularly, often together with two other famous Swedish artists: Carl Larson and Anders Zorn. He died in Stockholm in 1939.
______________________________________
1. In the Realm of the Wild. The Art of Bruno Liljefors of Sweden, exh..cat., American Museum of Natural History, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, 1988/89, nrs. 35 and 59.
2. Ibid, pp. 85-6.
The present painting epitomises all that is best about Liljefors' art. The artist has depicted a mountain hare (Lepus timidus) that is running through the snow in an otherwise desolate landscape, leaving deep footprints behind. A snowy hillock and some trees are all that can be ascertained from the world enveloping the animal. Mountain hares are common in Scandinavia: they normally grow to about 45-65 centimetres tall and are distinguished by the almost perfectly white coat they moult at the onset of winter. Liljefors was given to representing all sorts of wild animals, like foxes, grouse, gulls, but he would often resort to the mountain hare, which he liked to portray in different compositions. Sometimes they will be running straight towards the viewer, whilst at other times they are sitting in the snow, quite still, viewed from the back [1]. The artist always prepared painstakingly for his paintings and would often observe the animals out in the wild for long periods on end in order to capture their movements as accurately as possible.
The composition has been built up with short, sketchy brushstrokes. This gives the landscape around the hare a flat feel, allowing the animal to be absorbed into the surroundings of the snow-covered universe he inhabits. The almost unbroken effect of white-on-white presents the viewer with a sense of silence, far removed from the world occupied by humans. Additionally, we are invited to feel a sense of kinship with the hare as a sentient being: the piercing, observant eye, painted with the slightest of touches, is conducive to that. Liljefors was for ever experimenting with different styles; sometimes he would opt for a dense colour technique, and at other times he would impose structure by ordering the composition into different layers, almost like a collage, or with a high horizon, similar to a Japanese woodblock print.
Bruno Liljefors was born in Uppsala in 1860 and was encouraged to take an interest in animals and the countryside from an early age. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm between 1879-1882, after which he went to Düsseldorf to receive tutelage from the German animal painter C.F. Deiker. After that he travelled to Italy and Paris and In 1884 joined a Swedish artists' colony in Grey-sur-Loing. His stay in France allowed him to become acquainted with French realism and he exhibited at the Paris Salon on numerous occasions. Back in Sweden, in 1885 he exhibited together with an artists' group known as "The Opponents" for their opposition to the stifling strictures of academic painting. His talent as an animal painter was immediately recognised and one of his paintings was bought by the national museum [2].
Throughout the rest of his career Bruno Liljefors exhibited abroad regularly, often together with two other famous Swedish artists: Carl Larson and Anders Zorn. He died in Stockholm in 1939.
______________________________________
1. In the Realm of the Wild. The Art of Bruno Liljefors of Sweden, exh..cat., American Museum of Natural History, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, 1988/89, nrs. 35 and 59.
2. Ibid, pp. 85-6.
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