Bruno Liljefors

1860–1939.

Artist.

Bruno Liljefors, son of Anders and Margareta Liljefors, a gunpowder merchant, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1879 to 1882 and then went to work for the animal painter C. F. Deiker in Düsseldorf and from there to Grez-sur-Loing, where he stayed with Carl Larsson and others in the Swedish artists' colony.

Bruno Liljefors became one of the country's foremost animal painters with an international reputation and is best known for his nature and animal motifs. Like Carl Larsson, Liljefors was inspired by Japanese art and created daylight paintings based on naturalistic principles. With the painting "Tjäderspel" and "Nattstycke", as well as a couple of other works, he won the second class medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889.

The start of Liljefors' archipelago paintings is Morning mood over the sea from 1896, followed by a series of works with sea and bird motifs, usually painted in large format: "Uv vid havet", "Vilande havstrutar", "Jagande lom", "Rastande vildgäss" and "Storspovar" in 1899.

Among Liljefors publications, the memoir volume of The Wilds Kingdom (1934) can be mentioned. Collections of art are available at the National Museum, Gothenburg Art Museum, Thiel Gallery and Uppsala University. Bruno Liljefors' studio in Österbybruk is preserved as a museum.

 

Burial site: 0206-1641

Image description: Bruno Liljefors, unknown year. Photo: Unknown photographer / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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