Maj-Britt Andersson

THE FOLK ART PAINTER ANDERS ÄDEL

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the Swedish painter and infantry soldier Anders Ädel (1809-1888), who was hitherto only been known from oral tradition. He lived in a preindustrial, rural society. He practised and developed an old and distinctive interior-decoration tradition in the farmsteads of the province of Hälsingland, in the north of Sweden. Contemporary descriptions convey a picture of a wealthy rural population, where the dominating social class were the owners of the large farms, impressive in size, neatness, and the quality of the carpentry. So-called Ädel-paintings, though concentrated to the parish of Ljusdal, are also found in neighbouring parishes, and are a Gustavian-style floral decoration painted on walls, furniture, and artefacts in especially light-blue, white, and red hues.
Anders Ädel`s biograhpy can be reconstructed from parish records and military archives. Socially, he belonged to the landless rural labourers, who had a more independent position in northern Sweden than in the south. They embraced the norms and aesthetics of the freeholding farmers, whose farms were the cultural centres of the countryside. The farmers and the craftsmen of the parish were the style setters of domestic interior design and building. A style adopted in one parish confirmed an identity in relation to other parishes and social classes. The integrity and self-awareness which is expressed in the architecture can also be seen in decorated farmstead interiors.

Keywords: folk art, Sweden, Hälsingland, 19th century, preindustrial society, cultural history, architecture, domestic interior design, decorative art, craftsmen, styles, aesthetics.

Maj-Britt Andersson
Department of Art history
Uppsala university
Slottet, Södra tornet H:O
S - 752 37 Uppsala

ISBN: 91-518-3697-1
Stockholm
288pp
Distribution: Bokförlaget Prisma,
Box 2052, 103 12 Stockholm, tel: 08-789306