It became a sentimental journey to this place in Sweden, which I visited for the third time last week. The first time was in the 1970s with my twin brother. At the time, Carl Larsson’s illustrations from his home Sundborn hang many places in our homes in simple framings. I am convinced that he saw himself as a painter of national historical motives, but his watercoloured paintings from his home, his wife and his children are why we now remember him.

Carl Larsson (1853-1919) was married to Karin (1859-1928). Carl came from a very modest background, and Karin came from a well-off family. They met at an artists’ colony in France, and luckily, her father consented to their marriage. Carl wrote to Karin’s father:

I am poor, but I love your daughter!

The first visit to The Carl Larsson Farm made a great impression. I didn’t have a family then, but the style of the house, the homemade interior, and the lovely children inspired me for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos in the house.

I didn’t know then, but Carl Larsson suffered from depression of different causes. One of them was a tragic loss of an eighteen-year-old son Ulf who was sent off to study at the nearest bigger town, Falun. Without being able to say goodbye to him, he died of appendicitis away from home.

Carl couldn’t paint after that, so Karin encouraged him to renovate and paint the interior of the local church, and during earlier periods of depression, she urged him to paint their home and children. She was as much of an artist as he was designing furniture, making clothes, embroidery and woven carpets. Her style was so modern that the carpenter would bring the result to their house in the middle of the night to avoid being recognised with a specific chair.

The second time I visited Falun and Sundborn was in 2002, and now again this May 2023. Everything looked like the watercoloured illustrations from Carl Larsson’s “My Home”, even more, renovated today than at the former visits. This was my first visit in the spring when the light green colour showed in all its beauty.
In the house, so much seemed alive as quotes written on the walls were meant to encourage the children to remember to behave. My favourite was:

Be well-behaved and happy; then, you will solve the riddle of life!

In Swedish, it rhymes.

My life passed review at that place as I remembered the 1990s living in Sweden.