On 10 April, the 2015 Sepac stamp on a culture
theme will be issued. Åland Post shows one of painter Carl Larsson’s most
controversial and known paintings, Midvinterblot (‘Blót’). The painting in the stamp, however, is a parallel work of
art which is in the possession of Åland businessman Anders Wiklöf.
The smaller Midvinterblot was painted parallelly
and – unlike its gigantic double –it was signed. The painting went under the
hammer for SEK 3.2m at an auction in Stockholm in 2002 and is now included in
Anders Wiklöf’s private collection at Andersudde.
Carl Larsson (1853-1919) is one of the most popular
and well-known painters in Sweden. Midvinterblot shows another, more dramatic
side to Carl Larsson. His source of inspiration was the skaldic poem
Ynglingatal, dated to the early 900s. The
painting depicts how Swedish king Domalde lets himself be sacrificed in order
to avert years of famine. Measuring
6.4 x 13.6 m (90 m²), the monumental painting is
now on display in the hall of the central staircase in Swedish National Museum
of Fine Arts in Stockholm, but the road there was not uncomplicated. From first
sketch to final version of the painting, Larsson had to fight the conservative
establishment as well as his own more left-wing artist friends. The
critics considered the painting to be unpalatable, historically incorrect and,
finally, even outmoded. It was ultimately rejected by the National
museum in 1916 and has changed owners several times. Since 1992, the painting
hangs in National-museum as originally intended, obtained from a Japanese
private collection.
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