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Ernst Josephson
Ernst Josephson

Ernst Josephson

Swedish, 1851 - 1906
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Ernst Abraham Josephson was a Swedish painter and poet. He specialized in portraits, genre scenes of folklife and folklore.

He was born to a middle-class family of merchants of Jewish ancestry. His uncle, Ludvig Josephson (1832-1899) was a dramatist and his uncle Jacob Axel Josephson (1818-1880) was a composer. When he was ten, his father Ferdinand Semy Ferdinand Josephson (1814-1861) left home and he was raised by his mother, Gustafva Jacobsson (1819-1881) and three older sisters.

At the age of sixteen, he decided to become an artist and, with his family's support, enrolled at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. His primary instructors there were Johan Christoffer Boklund and August Malmström. He was there until 1876, when he received a Royal Medal for painting.

After leaving the Academy, he and his friend and fellow artist Severin Nilsson (1846-1918) visited Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, where they copied the Old Masters. His breakthrough came in Paris, where he was able to study with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts. He soon began concentrating on portraits, including many of his friends and fellow Swedes in France. For a time, he shared a studio with Hugo Birger (1854–1887). His personal style developed further during a trip to Seville with his friend, Anders Zorn, from 1881 to 1882.
His private life did not go well, however. By his late twenties, he was afflicted with syphilis. His romantic life suffered as a consequence, as he was forced to break off a promising relationship with a young model named Ketty Rindskopf.

In the 1880s, a painting that is now considered one of his masterpieces, Strömkarlen (1882-1884) was rejected by the Nationalmuseum. It was eventually purchased by Prince Eugen (1865-1947), himself a skilled amateur artist and art patron, who hung it at his home, Waldemarsudde, now a museum on Djurgården in Stockholm. In total Ernst Josephson is also represented at the museum with ten other oil paintings and a large number of drawings.
In 1881, his mother died. They had been very close and it affected him deeply. There was one bright spot; in 1883 he obtained the patronage of Pontus Furstenberg (1827-1902), a wealthy merchant and art collector. In 1885, he became a supporter of the "Opponenterna [sv]", a group that was protesting the outmoded teaching methods at the Swedish Academy. But his interest in the group diminished when he failed to win election to their governing board.

By the summer of 1888, he was beginning to have delusions and hallucinations, brought on by the progression of his illness. He installed himself on the Île-de-Bréhat in Brittany, where he had spent the previous summer with painter and engraver Allan Österlind (1855-1938) and his family. There, he became involved in spiritism, possibly inspired by Österlind's interest in occult phenomena. While in his visionary states, he wrote poems and created paintings that he signed with the names of dead artists. Some of his best known and most influential works were created during this period.

Shortly after, Österlind took him back to Sweden and he was admitted to Ulleråkers sjukhus, a mental institution in Uppsala. He remained there for several months. The diagnosis was paranoia, but his condition would now most likely be called schizophrenia. After being released, he continued to associate with his old friends, who did what they could to help him. His paintings had become rather distorted, but his earlier works were shown at exhibitions in Paris and Berlin, thanks to arrangements made by Richard Bergh and Georg Pauli, and he received several medals for them. As the years progressed, his physical health declined. First he suffered from rheumatic problems, which prevented him from painting. Then he was diagnosed with diabetes, which was the cause of his death in 1906.

66 items

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The Holy Sacrament

The Holy Sacrament

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Religion
Duke Karl’s Tower Chamber at Gripsholm

Duke Karl’s Tower Chamber at Gripsholm (1870)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Still Life
Guards’ Room at Gripsholm

Guards’ Room at Gripsholm (1870)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Still Life
Portrait of Mlle Genet

Portrait of Mlle Genet (1887)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Boy with a Wheelbarrow

Boy with a Wheelbarrow (1880)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Girl in Blue

Girl in Blue

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Mother and Child. The Wife and Daughter of the Artist Allan Österlind

Mother and Child. The Wife and Daughter of the Artist Allan Österlind (1886)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Portrait of a Lady

Portrait of a Lady

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Spanish Beggar

Spanish Beggar (1882)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Spanish Smiths

Spanish Smiths (1881)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
David and Saul

David and Saul (1878)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Religion
Nymph and Faun

Nymph and Faun (1878)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Mythology
The Water Sprite

The Water Sprite (1882)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Mythology
Landscape with Stream

Landscape with Stream (1884)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Landscape
Waterfall Study, Eggedal

Waterfall Study, Eggedal

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Landscape
La joie de vivre

La joie de vivre (1887)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Autumn Sunshine

Autumn Sunshine (1886)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Carl XVI

Carl XVI (1889)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Abstract
Portrait of Anna Nordgren

Portrait of Anna Nordgren (1881)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Sketch for the Water Sprite

Sketch for the Water Sprite (1881)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Mythology
14 juillet

14 juillet (1883)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Christ

Christ (1889)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Religion
Carl Skånberg, Landscape Painter

Carl Skånberg, Landscape Painter (1880)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
The Old Hunter

The Old Hunter (1871)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
The Murder of the Ribbings

The Murder of the Ribbings (1874)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Svea’s Banner

Svea’s Banner (1895)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Spanish Dwarf

Spanish Dwarf (1882)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Figurative
Martyr

Martyr

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Drawings
Knight and Maiden

Knight and Maiden (1897)

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Drawings
Anna Josephson

Anna Josephson

Ernst Josephson (Swedish, 1851 - 1906)
Drawings
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