Birthday gift

Another birthday gift for myself is a part time class at university in Art History; The Mask of Beauty. It covers portraits and fashion during the 16’th throughout the 19’th century.

Nationalmuseum in Stockholm recently released more than 3 000 copy right expired paintings to Wikimedia Commons for free use. Lots of beautiful portraits! My absolute favorite when browsing through them all is “Kål-Margit”, a portrait of a young Dalecarlian girl knitting, by famous painter Anders Zorn. If you ever visit Dalecarlia, don't miss the Zorn-museum!

Anders Zorn, 1901, "Kål-Margit".

Why do I like this portrait so much?

First of all; I like portraits of women. Women make up half the population - therefore should be portrayed in proportion to that.  

Secondly; I like the natural pose. She sits there carrying on her business, and I just observe. I like paintings of people actually doing something. That someone found it important enough to capture it and preserve it for the future. In this case “it” is knitting, a womens do with too low a status, but still depictured by one of the greatest artists of the country.  

Thirdly; She's darn pretty! My not-so-wild guess is that's why she was portrayed. Zorn had a thing for pretty young farm girls… 
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On a deeper level I guess it has to do with identification - this portrait speaks to me on many levels.