Pontus

Pontus, painted in 1890, is a portrait of another of the Larsson children — Pontus was born in 1887, making him approximately three years old in this work. The painting belongs to the sustained portrait project Carl Larsson undertook throughout the 1880s and 1890s, documenting his growing family with an attention that went well beyond conventional parental record-keeping. These portraits formed part of the raw material for the illustrations in his celebrated books, most importantly the Ett hem series. Larsson's portraits of young children are remarkable for their refusal to sentimentalize: he observes each child's individual character and physical presence with the same directness he brought to still-life studies. By 1890 his style had fully consolidated, moving away from the oil-based academic approach toward a lighter, more linear manner, though the canvas support here indicates he was still committed to oil for more formal portrait commissions alongside his watercolor practice.

Canvas support with brushwork that balances spontaneity with careful observation of the child's specific features. The palette is warm and relatively high-key, characteristic of Larsson's mature domestic portraiture. The background is handled simply to foreground the figure.