When John Bauer (1882-1918) was commissioned to illustrate the collection of fairy tales titled Bland Tomtar och Troll ('Among Gnomes and Trolls'), published by Åhlén & Åkerlund in 1907, he probably never imagined the impact it would have on his popularity.
In texts The Fairy Fale of Skutt the Elk and Princess Tuvstarr (from Among the Gnomes and Trolls), a girl goes into the forest on an adventure to the edge of the kingdom to experience the world. She meets the elk Skutt, who becomes her companion and takes her on an eventful journey. The wise elk tries to warn her of all the dangers of life, but the princess first loses her crown to the fairies, then her white dress to the forest rat, and finally she loses her golden heart necklace in the deep and dark forest lake. She remains at the edge of the lake forever, and despite the elk's strenuous efforts to persuade her to return home, she chooses a life of total isolation and loneliness.
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The scene of Princess Tuvstarr looking down into the dark forest star is John Bauer's most iconic motif. It is said that the painter's wife Ester Ellqvist, an artist herself, modelled Tuvstarr. He often used Ester as a model and she appears in many of his paintings.
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John Bauer often started with stamp-sized sketches in order to gradually develop his pictures. This is why his motifs are often available in several different designs and sizes. The version of Ännu sitter Tuvstarr kvar och ser undrar ner i vattnet, which was sold at Uppsala Auktionskammares International Auction on 14 June, is a watercolour with gouache and ink and measures 25 x 27 centimetres. The painting is dedicated to the artist's brother Hjalmar Bauer, who received it as a gift at Christmas 1913.
The painting was estimated between SEK 2,500,000-3,000,000 (around £180,000 - 220,000), but was sold for a record SEK 6.75 million (£496,000), more than doubling the previous record for the artist.
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'It has been a great pleasure for my colleagues and me to manage the sale of John Bauer's national treasure. There was a lot of interest in advance and we had ten active bidders at the auction today when the record was achieved", says Magnus Bexhed, CEO of Uppsala Auctioneers.
