Official visitors guide
Jönköping | Huskvarna
Gränna | Visingsö
Official visitors guide
Jönköping | Huskvarna
Gränna | Visingsö
Nature in general and the forest in particular are central aspects in John Bauer’s art, providing a backdrop to his fairy tale illustrations. On the one hand, the Bauer family enjoyed their country life immensely and found profound inspiration for their art, on the other hand it was lonely and a far cry from the Swedish cultural capital, Stockholm
What role did the natural surroundings play in the development of Bauer’s imagery? In this exhibition, we focus on a tiny geographic area: life at lake Bunn located a few miles northeast of Jönköping. Bauer himself found it idyllic and wrote about “absolute silence and the perfect calmness”.
Together with his wife Esther (born Ellqvist), John Bauer first lived in Torstorp until they in 1914 acquired Villa Björkudden close to today’s Bunnström. Esther Bauer characterised the place as “complete wilderness” and was annoyed by the “constant splashing” by the lakeside, wanting to move to Stockholm – which they intended to do in 1918 when the whole family tragically drowned.
This exhibition consists of three categories focusing on their family life – including their son Bengt (born in 1915) and their dachshunds. The second part concerns their life in nature: canoeing on the lake in summer, ice skating in winter, or just walking in the deep forests. The third part focuses on their artistic practices. Their studios play an important part, but John Bauer is also captured with tiny trolls in the woods – he is placing these figures in the trees, amongst the rocks, but what exactly does he want to accomplish?