Family:
Anders Zorn (1860-1920)
Wife: Emma Lamm (1860-1942)
Mother: Grudd Anna Andersdotter (1838-1920)
Father: Johann Leonard Zorn (1831-1872)
Half-sister: Skeri Karin Andersson (1874-1906)
Half-sister: Skeri Mejt Andersson (1881-1981)
Maternal Grandfather: Grudd Anders Persson (1806-1876)
Maternal Grandmother: Hass Karin Andersdotter (1811-1894)
Stepfather: Skeri Anders Andersson (?-1885)

Anders Leonardsson was born in parish of Yvraden, Mora (Dalecarlia) on February 18th 1860. It was not until later that he took his fathers name Zorn who was a German brewer from Reichenberg (near Würtzburg).
Johann Zorn met Grudd Anna while she was employed temporarily at Von Düben's recently started brewery in Uppsala, they never got married.
Anders Zorn didn't have any contact with his father.
Since Anna worked in Uppsala, Anders stayed at his grandparents farmyard in Yvraden. In 1870 Zorn started his studying at the age of twelve in the school at Morastrand.

During the autumn of 1872 he progressed to a secondary grammar school in Enköping. After three years he had completed his studies in: Christianity, Swedish, German, history, geography, mathematics, natural science, calligraphy and Latin. He was not a successful student, his grades were satisfactory, but his teacher discovered that he had an artistic ability.
Later that year, on Boxing Day, his father died in Helsinki and Anders inherited some small funds for his further education.


On January 3 1874, Zorn's mother married Skeri Anders Andersson and moved in with him to Skerigården in Lisselby (Mora). During that winter Anders Zorn had the opportunity to show his woodcarvings to Ahlborn the woodsculptor in Uppsala.
He was confirmed in the church in Enköping on June 14.
On July 15 the distribution of the personal estate of brewer Leonardsson was read in which 3000 SEK was set aside for Zorn's upbringing. Anders parental guardian was a farmer in Mora, Bälter Sven Ersson, who on December 12th received the funds from the County administration, this money lasted for four years.
On November 28 Anders Zorn's half- sister Karin was born.


From 1875 to 1881, Zorn studied in Stockholm at the school for Handicraft and later at the Royal Academy of Fine Art's preparatory school, the so- called Principle school, (start 18th Sept. 1875). He studied, among other things, painting, drawing and sculpturing.
Zorn lived poorly and had to struggle against poverty. He soon earned himself a reputation as a drawer and painter in watercolour. During these years, Anders lived a double life; one in Stockholm among the fine gentlemen during the winter and a peasant life in the summertime in Dalecarlia.


As a student Zorn had the opportunity to visit the memorial exhibition of Egron Lundgren (500 paintings), arranged by the Royal Academy of Fine Art during April and May 1876. At the National museum, the painting Jaktnymf by Julius Kronberg made a deep impression on the young Zorn.
He stays the summer months in Mora and Orsa that year. Zorn is now doing watercolour painting on the theme Raking, Kulla som räfsar.
Anders grandfather dies on December 23, at Uppsala Academic Hospital.


In the spring 1878, he stayed in Mora and Skattungbyn (Dalecarlia).
In July Anders, together with friends Hjalmar Falk and Olof Grafström travelled to Hälsingland and Medelpad (province).
Anders received a diploma at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in August 28, and he moved up to The antique school in the autumn. Among his new friends were Richard Berg, Oscar Björk and Robert Thegerström.
His inherited funds had come to an end, but his father's German friends had a collection for his benefit.


In 1879 he passed his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Art. The subjects were perspective (passed 10 April), anatomy (passed 2 May) and the School of sculpture he completed on May 13. He received his diploma on the 28 of June.


In the spring of 1880, Zorn had gained himself a name as a painter. The academy had its yearly Student exhibition and Anders presented the watercolour, In Mourning at the exhibit. The painting's motif is of a beautiful young woman attired in mourning. In the Official Swedish Government Gazette of May 22 the painting was praised by Carl Rupert Nyholm a prominent Swedish critic and Zorn later was rewarded with 200 SEK for his work of art.
The summer he spends with Ferdinand Boberg and during his stay in Skattungbyn, he did the watercolour Till Dans (one of Zorn's favourite places).
Anders moved to a studio at Hamngatsbacken in the autumn of 1880 (Stockholm).


In the spring of 1881, Anders Zorn met Emma Lamm and on June 2, they were secretly engaged. Emma came from a respected Jewish family and she was interested in culture. Her deceased father Martin Oscar Lamm (1824-1878) had run the S.L. Lamm & son Textile Company. Her mother's name was Henriette Lamm. Emma lived in Stockholm during the winters and during the summers she and her family (she had two siblings Herman and Anna) moved to Dalarö in the archipelago.
On April 17 Zorn's half- sister Mejt was born. Anders did his national service in the Svea Life Guards at this time.
This year he left Sweden for the first time and in August he had settled down in London. The first years Zorn only painted watercolours but still managed to acquire a reputation in England.
During the autumn and the winter Zorn travelled together with Ernest Josephson to Spain via Paris where they visited Madrid, Toledo and Sevilla. They continued their trip and on New Year's Eve they where in Cadiz.


In the beginning of 1882 Zorn participated in an exhibition in Cadiz and was praised in the El Comercio. On February 26 he wrote to Christian Bolinder and told him that he would send the paintings Kusinerna and Modertsstolthet to the exhibition in London.
Later that spring Anders travelled further to Rome via Nice, Genua and Pisa, where he met Julius Kronberg, Carl Skånberg, Georg Pauli and Fritz Von Dardel.
Zorn wrote a letter to Georg Nordensvan about his love to his native country and about his admires for Egron Lundgren. Then he continued from Italy to Paris where he met Emma and her mother. He told Ernst Beckman in a letter that he: enjoyed enormously all the art he has seen.
Anders spent the summer together with Christian Bolinder in Richmond, England, where he depicted views from the Thames. Throughout the autumn, he stayed in London at 42 Brook Street. Anders were together with Edward Casparsson, who later acquired Modertsstolthet for 50£. In the late winter Zorn and Casparsson shortly visited the gallery at Rue de Séze in Paris where he encountered Sargents paintings.


The first half of 1883 Anders lived in London and on February 22 he wrote to Casparsson and told him that he would etch a portrait in copper to his publisher Axel Herman Hägg. It was through Hägg that he encountered the basics of etching techniques.
He sold his painting Italienska Gatumusikanter for the sum of 27£.
He later that year visited exhibitions in Paris and Amsterdam and prepared for a trip to Japan. Zorn had also at this time discovered a prosperous market in America.
That year's summer he spent mostly in Mora and Dalarö, but he did shorter trips to Leksand and Skattungbyn (Dalecarlia).
Zorn made at these time preparations for the watercolour Ladie's man, and on October, Anders worked in Julius Kronbergs studio in Stockholm and in the beginning of November, he met his friends Josephson and Fürstenberg in Gothenburg.
Back in London Anders moved in to an apartment in Cavendish Buildings and Emma wrote from Stockholm on November 13 that: all our siblings now know that we are engaged.


Zorn spent the beginning of the 1884 at Clovelly in Devon, where he was with the Bolinder brothers. After that he returned to London and in the spring, Anders travelled from London to Lisbon. On this trip he signed the portrait of Mr. Benjamin. Then he proceeded to Madrid where he started his big project Kärleksnymf and Zorn was an exhibitor at the Exposion general de bellas artes.
On the 10 of May, Zorn becomes a member at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Stockholm.
Anders returned to London in the early summer and towards the end of August, he made a quick visit to Paris and met his brother- in- law Herman Lamm.


In January 1885, Anders was permitted to The British Museum's graphic collection and on the 29th he received the letter that his half- sister wrote from Mora, saying that little Kersti died the 10 of January.
In the spring of Zorn made a couple of trips to Paris. In London, he did the portrait of the art dealer Robert Dunthorne and of the American Clarence Baker. Now he finished what he had started in Spain, his project Kärleksnymf.
The engagement between Anders Zorn and Emma Lamm was announced and Emma and her mother Henriette were introduced to Zorn's relatives. The newly engaged couple spent the summer on Dalarö.
Zorn's stepfather Skeri Anders Andersson died on June the 15.
In the beginning of September, Anders portrayed Fru Jeanna Aspelin and Brukspatron Chr. Aspelin when he stayed in Fagersta. For the first time he met Ernest Cassel on a dinner at Consul- general Henrik Davidson.
A marriage settlement was signed between Anders and Emma on October 13. The civil marriage took place in Stockholm the 16 and Henriette Lamm invited guests to festive entertainments at Hotel Phoenix. Shortly thereafter they went for a long honeymoon trip where they passed Gothenburg, Hamburg, Vienna, Budapest to their final destination in Rumania. During this trip, he made several paintings, Skarprättaren, Bergszigenare and Zigenarsmedja to name a few.
On December the 1st Anders Zorn was appointed to a Knight, and the Royal Academy of Fine Art awarded him the Egron Lundgrenska medallion for watercolouring.


The journey continued well in to 1886 and on January at Konstantinopel he signed the paintings, Kaikroddare, Stambul, Sovande Odalisk and I Top Capu. Shortly thereafter Zorn got seriously ill with typhoid fever and was near death. When Anders finally improved from the illness, they continued with the steamer Aurora to Athens where they met the naval engineer Von Eckermann.
Towards the end of April they arrived in Rome and travelled further to Florence where the trip proceeded to Basel, Paris and then finally they arrived in London. Here Anders did watercolour portraits of Ernest Cassel, Fred Warburg and Mrs. Warburg.
In the beginning of the summer, the Zorns arrived to Dalarö and during July and August, Anders made the paintings En Sirén, Kapprodd and The Thornbush.
On August 16 Anders showed three paintings on The Gothenburg Exhibition and two days later the opponents (the artist who was opposed the Royal Academy of Fine Art's way of seeing thing's) gathered in Zorn's doublet at Hotel Kristiania to constitute a society- the Artists Associations.
During that autumn he purchased a lot of land adjacent to Mora church from his mother- in- law Hox Anna Persdotter. Zorn started to work on his painting Our Daily Bread, that he showed together with six other watercolours on the Artists Associations exhibition in Stockholm on October 8. Twelve days later Zorn approved the publishing of his biography in the periodical Förr och Nu (Now and Then) to the editor B. Wadström.


In February 1887 Anders and Emma were in Algeria where he worked together with Bob Thegerström and he produced the paintings I Algers Hamn, Ouled Naid and Daiduscha.
They continued from Algeria to Spain, then onwards to Paris where they met Richard Berg. Emma continued on to Stockholm and Anders went to London and spent the month of June painting portraits. From Ernest Cassel Zorn received an invitation, that he could stay at his (Cassel's) place to be present at the celebration of Queen Victoria's anniversary as a regent in 50 years.
Zorn was on Dalarö that summer and now he made the big watercolour Vågskvalp. He now started to improve a genre that would have a significant part on his artistry: nude in nature. Emma's relative, Jacques Lamm, bought the watercolour paintings Sommar and Studier i olja and these paintings document very well Anders first attempt in this genre.
When Anders during August and September was back in Mora, he made another purchase of land for 550 SEK.
In the autumn he participated with the watercolour Vågskvalp in the Artists Associations exhibition in Gothenburg and the public and critics were amazed.
In the late autumn Zorn was in England and he did two portraits on assignment by Cassel, Mrs Symons depicted in Scottish environment and the other portrait was of Anna Jenkins.
In the beginning of December, he travelled to Cornwall with Emma and Alice Miller, an English artist. At an artist community in St. Ives, Anders met Bernt Grönvold from Norway, Adrian Stokes from England and the American Edward Simmons. The transitions to oil painting were much about finding the right colour that would produce light and activate senses. Zorn received a helping hand from Edward Simmons on how to arrange a palette, but Zorn did not lack experience in oil painting.


In the beginning of 1888 in St. Ives, Zorn made the meter high watercolour Fiskmarknad i St. Ives.
On February, the 7 Zorn was appointed Caballero de la Orden Espanola de Isabel la Católica.
In March, the Zorns arrived to Paris and Anders had brought with him his first work in oil painting (En Fiskare). He took it to an art gallery and it was later bought by the French Government for 1000 Francs.
Anders contributed actively, during this time, to the opponents campaign against the Royal Academy of Fine Art.
The summer Anders spent on Dalarö where he worked on the paintings Ute and Une Premiére. He arranged together with Mr. Perséus the Artists Associations autumn Exhibition, opening September 12, on Blanchs art gallery (Stockholm).
Zorn's contribution was the large oil painting Ute and this was the first time he showed his work in oil to a Swedish public.
After a shorter visit in Mora, Anders and Emma travelled to Paris and he made two important paintings there: The portrait in watercolour of Rosita Mauri and the portrait in oil of Antonin Proust. Christmas was celebrated at Woodlands with Charles Armitage.


In the beginning of 1889, Zorn made preparations at the prospect of the Gallery and the Stockholm World Fair and Art exhibition. He socialised with Prince Eugen, Axel Gallén, Emil Wikström and Louis Sparre.
His work was exhibited in Paris and the paintings were very successful and on the World Fair and Art Exhibition he was rewarded with the First Class Medallion for his big watercolour Une Premiére. His collections were impressive.
At the Art Gallery, he received the Third Class Medallion for Ute. Zorn was much appreciated by the critics and the public, but there were reservations, not at least among his fellow compatriots, of ethical kind. He appeared to be too competent.
The summer of 1889 he was in Mora and on Dalarö. The 12 of August Thegerström was saying that Zorn: sails out twice a day with his nude Miss from the inn.
The Zorn Manor was now completed in its first shape. During August, Zorn had an order on two paintings with Dalecarlia motif. Anders made Baking bread and Kyrkfärd as a result of the art collector Robert Dunthorne's order. During this summer he also made Badande med parasoll.
On the 3 of December Zorn was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur. Towards the end of that year he went to England and visited C. Armitage, and he did a portrait of the host.