Zorn in the Royal Collections

"Now it's time to paint the old man!" This is how the artist Anders Zorn was greeted by King Oskar II when he arrived at the Royal Palace one winter's day in 1898 to paint the king's portrait. During his lifetime, Zorn painted twelve royal portraits.

King Oskar II wanted to be painted in the Life Guards' light blue mounted uniform, but Zorn had other ideas and replied that such a portrait "will be painted – but not by me".

"… not as a soldier, but as a patron and practitioner of the arts and sciences."

The king was furious. Zorn explained that if he were to have the chance to paint his king, he intended to paint him as he knew him – and that he knew him "not as a soldier, but as a patron and practitioner of the arts and sciences". The king relented and the portrait was painted with the king sitting in his audience chamber in society wear, with the Seraphim ribbon across his chest. On his lapel we can glimpse a medal that the king received for saving lives in France – of all the orders and medals that Oskar II wanted to wear, this was the only one that Zorn deemed worthy. The king was delighted with the completed portrait, and embraced Zorn several times.

Royal portraits by Anders Zorn

During his lifetime, Anders Zorn completed twelve royal portraits – the first when he was just 26 years old. This first portrait depicted princes Gustaf Adolf and Vilhelm, aged 4 and 2, with their large red dog which had been a gift from the Emperor of Germany. The princes' parents, Crown Prince Gustaf and Crown Princess Viktoria, took it in turns to keep an eye on their sons.

The final royal portrait painted by Zorn shows Crown Princess Margareta sitting at her desk in the living room of the family's apartment at the Royal Palace. This is a portrait of a clearly private nature. The Crown Princess has an art book in front of her, and is delicately touching her pearl necklace. Like many others of Zorn's portraits, this is almost more of a psychological study than a pure depiction.