Two original illustrations for the songbook Mors lilla Olle och andra visor af Alice Tegnér, created by Elsa Beskow in 1903

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Art Bulletin of

Nationalmuseum

Stockholm Volume 21

Two Original Illustrations for the Songbook Mors lilla Olle och andra visor af Alice Tegnér, Created by Elsa Beskow in 1903

Ulf Cederlöf Senior Curator, Prints and Drawings

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4 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volume 21, 2014

Photo Credits

Nationalmuseum Image Archives, from Domenico Fetti 1588/89–1623, Eduard Safarik (ed.), Milan, 1996, p. 280, fig. 82 (Figs. 2 and 9A, pp. 13 and 19)

Elke Estel/Hans-Peter Klut (Figs. 4, 5B, 6B and 7B, pp. 14–17)

The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (p. 28)

Rohan.pdf, 2015-09-21, (p. 40)

© Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie Dessau (pp. 138–139)

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Cover Illustrations

Domenico Fetti (1588/89–1623), David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1617/20. Oil on canvas, 161 x 99.5 cm. Purchase: The Wiros Fund.

Nationalmuseum, NM 7280.

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Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is published annually and contains articles on the history and theory of art relating to the collections of the Nationalmuseum.

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43 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volume 21, 2014 acquisitions/two original illustrations

Two Original Illustrations for the Songbook Mors lilla Olle och andra visor af Alice Tegnér, Created by Elsa Beskow in 1903

Ulf Cederlöf Senior Curator, Prints and Drawings

Fig. 1 Elsa Beskow (1874–1953), Ekorrn satt i granen (Squirrel in the Spruce Tree), 1903. Pen and black ink, watercolour, 380 x 280 mm.

Purchase: Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 63/2014.

Fig. 2 Elsa Beskow (1874–1953), Småjäntorna stå i dörren (Little Girls are Standing by the Door), 1903. Pen and black ink, watercolour, 380 x 275 mm.

Purchase: Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 64/2014.

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44 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volume 21, 2014

acquisitions/two original illustrations

ample, and encouraging a love of reading.

Attention is often drawn to the close con- nection between words and images in her storybooks, the balance between humour and education, and last but not least, the natural tone of her narrative. Among the gems of children’s literature which Elsa Be- skow left behind, her illustrations for Mors lilla Olle och andra visor shine particularly brightly.

By inheritance, these sheets were gradually dispersed among various members of the Tegnér family, and eventually they found new owners. In 1995, thanks to a generous gift from the composer Benny Andersson, the Nationalmuseum was able to acquire four of the original images in watercolour and ink, representing some of the best- known illustrations from the book: Mors lilla Olle (Mother’s little Olle), Blåsippan uti backarna står (Hepatica blue on wooded slope), Bä, bä vita lamm (Baa, baa, black sheep) and Sov du lilla vide ung (Sleep, you little willow young). With the assistance of the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund, the Muse- um was able to purchase another two at the Bukowskis autumn sale in 2014: Ekorrn satt i granen (Squirrel in the spruce tree) (Fig. 1) and Småjäntorna stå i dörren (Little girls are standing by the door) (Fig. 2). As a result, over half the illustrations are now in public ownership.

The acquisition of these works of Elsa Beskow is no isolated phenomenon, but part of the Nationalmuseum’s broader mis- sion to collect children’s book illustrations.

Its holding in this area comprises important works from the 18th century right down to the present day. As early as 1974, the Mu- seum was able to acquire from Beskow’s descendants all the original illustrations for Tomtebobarnen (Children of the Forest), which first appeared in print in 1910. Over the years, the Museum has turned the spotlight on Elsa Beskow’s art on several occasions, most recently in 2002 with the exhibition Elsa Beskow: A Childhood Picture Treasury, and in 1995 with Elsa Beskow.

At the turn of the 20th century, when Ellen Key was a major influence on the debate about children’s education and de- velopment, Beskow’s storybooks were enti- rely in tune with their times. Today, more than a century later, some of her works may seem old-fashioned and almost too idyllic.

It would be a mistake, though, to under- estimate the significance she has had for several generations of Swedish children, in terms of shaping their view of nature, for ex- Elsa Beskow (1874–1953) was one of

the pioneers who set the tone for children’s books in Sweden. For more than half a century, she wove classic tales, in words and images, for generations of Swedish children. With her brush and pen, she conveyed fragrances and moods which, through the country’s nurseries, have penetrated deep into the national consciousness. By seeing the world through the eyes of a child, she also managed to impart a magic to those things in life, close at hand, that we often neglect. In her world, the harsh realities of nature and life were transformed into an enchanted fairy tale that stretches across the seasons. Her idyllisation of a secure childhood home and the light Swedish summers was something Elsa Beskow had in common with another great illustrator and artist, Carl Larsson. The same can be said of her watercolour technique, her linear style, her light palette and her method of com- position, with its use of a series of flat, pa- rallel planes. Like Larsson and many other contemporaries, Beskow found inspiration in both Japanese woodblock prints and the English magazine The Studio. At a personal level though, she would, early on, distance herself from Carl Larsson on account of his view of women.

In the 1890s, Elsa Beskow settled in Djursholm, just north of Stockholm, whe- re her husband Natanael Beskow became a lay preacher at Djursholm Chapel.

Here she made the acquaintance of Alice Tegnér, who played the organ for the ser- vices. When a group of friends wanted to publish Tegnér’s songs in book form, Elsa Beskow prepared the illustrations. The resulting volume, Mors lilla Olle och andra visor af Alice Tegnér (“Mother’s Little Olle”

and other songs by Alice Tegnér), became one of the most cherished songbooks of all time, appearing in countless editions. It was first published in 1903, and on her birthday that year Tegnér received a portfolio contai- ning the eleven original illustrations for the book, put together by “grateful Djursholm friends”.