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 Sweden's foremost painters for his nature and animal motifs and renowned internationally. Like Carl Larsson, Liljefors was inspired by Japanese art and created daylight painting according to the principles of naturalism. With the painting "Capercaille Courtship" and "Night Piece", as well as another pair of works, he captured the second class medal at the World Exhibition in Paris 1889.
The prelude to Liljefors archipelago paintings is the morning atmosphere of the sea from 1896 followed by a series of works with sea and bird motifs generally painted in large format: "Eagle-owl by the Sea", "Dormant great black-backed gull", "Chasing diver", "Resting wild geese" and "Eurasian curlews" 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]
Click here for an uncropped image
