Herdsmaid

1908

Oil on canvas

Zorn always bore a great love for his hometown, a feeling that deepened even further with his and his wife’s move to Mora in 1896. In his paintings from his native area, he strives to interpret the peasant culture that he had such a strong affinity to. The subject of his work is everyday life, and the mode mood is calm and gentle. In Herdsmaid, he depicts a girl, dressed in the traditional mora costume, herding the cattle in the forest. Zorn may have been inspired by the art of photography; the focus seems to be on the girl, while the surrounding vegetation is somewhat blurred.