Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn: 
Travelling the World, Remembering the Land
at MAPFRE, Madrid
19 February – 17 May 

I discovered the great Swedish artist Anders Zorn as a result of two things. The first was a visit to the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, during which one of the group asked me if I was familiar with Zorn, given that his richly coloured, painterly work was so similar to that of the Spaniard, as well as having a close relationship to the style of John Singer Sargent. The second was a result of this exchange. Determined to learn more, I decided to talk about Zorn's work in relationship to both of the other artists when looking around for bright and positive works to enliven the potentially drab days of lock down, when Covid brought so many of us to Zoom and online lectures.

I have since taken three groups to Stockholm, hoping to see more of his paintings. Unfortunately, Sweden went into lockdown for the first and only time two days before the first group was due to arrive, so the Nationalmuseum, which has a substantial collection of his work, was closed.  Before the next two visits the museum enjoyed a major refurbishment and rehang, and, far from the roomful of Zorn's paintings it used to display, only a couple remained on view. So I was delighted that I would finally get a chance to see more when the Hamburg Kunsthalle announced their exhibition, although I'm not free to go until the penultimate week: I had planned this talk to let you know what you’d missed. However, I’ve recently discovered that the exhibition is moving on to Madrid. If you like what you see (and, if you like Sargent or Sorolla, you will), you will have plenty of time to plan a trip to Spain! I’d say more about the artist himself – but I’ve said too much already. The paintings speak for themselves: sign up, and you’ll see what I mean! 

Please remember, I do not record my talks.