Carl Larsson Medieval Bridge at Gretz 1885 Poster

 
Carl Larsson Medieval Bridge at Gretz 1885 Poster from Zazzle.com

Carl Larsson Medieval Bridge at Gretz 1885 Poster

Carl Larsson Medieval Bridge at Gretz 1885

One of Larsson's earlier watercolors, painted during his stay at the Scandinavian artists' colony at Gretz, a little painting village that lies south of the Fontainebleau forest. He was still in the early blush of his first success as a serious painter, having exhibited at the Salon and won a medal for his watercolors in 1883. Noted Swedish art historian and critic Georg Nordensvan described the watercolors which followed (Medieval Bridge at Gretz among them) as "distinguished by the same pleasant delicacy of handling, the same glow and splendor of sunlight, and the same glad color harmony."

Description: Evoking the sense of a quiet, secret place one might go for solitude and reflection (or perhaps an assignation), the point of view is oblique, as if from a hidden place down near the water's edge. Through the arch of the bridge, we glimpse waterlilies and the far shore. The lush greens found near the water's edge fairly glow in the semi-shade, while sunlight plays on the tree trunk and and the grassy hummock.

A gentle breeze bends the reeds and wafts onward through the arch of the bridge. A woman dressed in red enters the frame from the right, reinforcing the impression the painting captures a moment in time and leaving us to wonder whether she has unwittingly intruded upon the artist's solitude while seeking her own, or whether perhaps they had arranged to meet here in this cool green secret place.

This is the full bleed (borderless version intended for use as a poster. A fine art print intended for matting and framing is available in my gallery's Art of Carl Larsson Collection. The white border on the print version makes the mounting and matting process easier if you plan on framing it.

The default setting here is for the "basic" paper option. Do try out the other paper options and choose the one which suits your taste and budget. The papers with UV protection will give you a longer lasting print, one you can hand down in the family, and I would certainly recommend this option if you plan to hang the print in a sunny location. I would not choose the canvas option myself, as it is not in keeping with this print (the original being watercolour on paper, not oil on canvas).


About the original work of art:
Artist: Carl Larsson
Title: The Funny Fellow
Date: 1917
Medium: Watercolor

About the artist:Carl Larsson, (b Stockholm, 28 May 1853; d Falun, 22 Jan. 1919) was a Swedish painter, illustrator, printmaker, and writer. His work included numerous portraits and book illustrations, as well as several large murals (the best known are those on Sweden's artistic history in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 1896).