Lot 213: John Bauer , Swedish 1882-1918 The Princess in the Forest gouache on paper

signed JOHN BAUER (lower left) gouache on paper

measurements 14 by 15 3/4 in. alternate measurements 35.5 by 40 cm

Michel Fokine (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, Paris (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Swedish artist John Bauer was influenced early in his career by the work of Albert Engström and Carl Larsson--and by his extensive travel through Lapland, where he recorded its unique flora and fauna and, later, Italy, where he completed sketches after Renaissance art. Between 1907 and 1915, Bauer's illustrations for a Christmas annual of fairytales, Bland tomtar och troll (Among elves and trolls) reached readers throughout Sweden and abroad, securing his reputation for highly imaginative works based in the region's narrative traditions. Bauer continued to translate fairy stories into many artistic media from large frescoes, to stage plays, and a libretto for the ballet Bergakungen (The Mountain King). The present work may have been inspired by Bauer's time spent in the Smaaland forest, though this highly stylized depiction of silvery trees, a glassy pond, and a sylvan maiden seems less botanical study than a fantastical, decorative vision. Indeed, the picture's uniformly receding perspective lines, from water to trees to mossy banks, create a stage-like setting for the maiden, perhaps the Princess Tuystarr, who appears in other gouaches by Bauer, and for whom his wife Esther served as model. The artist's theatrical compositions inspired several notable composers, dramatists, and the famous Ballet Russe choreographer Michel Fokin (1880-1942). In 1918, after a jealous dispute with Sergei Diaghilev over the increasingly significant influence held by Vaslay Nijnsky at the Ballet Russe, Fokin moved to Sweden, where he met the artist and became a connoisseur of Bauer's work which may have inspired future ballets of princesses, goblins, and other magical creatures and elaborate stage sets of deep forests, mysterious caves, and mountain realms.