Julius Kronberg, Swedish Academian

Speaking of Swedish painters, blog reader Staffan Alsparr shared some information about Julius Kronberg (1850-1921): "I thought he might be an artist that you haven't heard of before, which isn't strange at all, he is very unknown here as well."

Kronberg, Portrait of Artur Hazelius, 1910

Mr. Alsparr continues: "The two Swedish artists that most people do know are Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson. Kronberg was contemporary to them, although he followed a more academic path, and was very popular in his time, but largely forgotten today, like many of the academicians."

Julius Kronberg, David och Saul, 1885

Julius Kronberg and his daughter, with charcoal preliminary for a mural

Maquettes by Julius Kronberg

"I thought you might find his work interesting since he worked with imaginative subjects and built his own models, props and maquettes to aid him in this, just like many others and like you've written about in Imaginative Realism." 

Julius Kronberg Queen of Sheba

"His studio is now also part of Skansen, an outdoor museum in Stockholm, and it is open to the public but only a few weeks a year." 

Thanks, Staffan.

Links:
Wikipedia for Julius Kronberg

Auction page for David and Saul

Skansen Museum

Books: Nordic Orientalism: Paris and the Cosmopolitan Imagination 1800-1900
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist
Blog post by Timothy Adkins with loads of photos