"Murre". Portrait of Casimir Laurin

"Murre". Portrait of Casimir Laurin was made in 1900, depicting Casimir Laurin, a son of the Swedish art collector and patron Thorsten Laurin, who was one of Larsson's most important supporters and friends. The nickname 'Murre' suggests the informal, familial register of the portrait — this is a friend's child as much as a formal commission. The Laurin family played a significant role in Larsson's career: Thorsten Laurin built one of Sweden's most important private collections of modern art and was a committed patron of Larsson and his contemporaries. The child portrait on paper (probably watercolor or chalk) reflects Larsson's characteristic approach to informal portraits made for close friends and family: less finished than his exhibition works but often more psychologically direct. Made in 1900, the year after the publication of the enormously successful Ett hem, this portrait comes from the period of Larsson's greatest popular fame in Sweden.

Work on paper with characteristics suggesting pastel, chalk, or watercolor. The paper support allows a lighter, more immediate handling than canvas, suited to an informal portrait of a child. The image likely combines drawn contours with applied color in Larsson's characteristic direct manner.