Spanish Blacksmiths

Ernst Josephson sojourned in Spain in 1881– 82 together with several Nordic colleagues. Young artists travelled there to experience the colourful folk life and not least to see the Spanish masters Diego Velázquez and Francisco Goya in the museums. Josephson created two versions of Spanish Blacksmiths, considered to be a highlight from his realistic period. In a letter, he recounted the genesis of the work as follows:

“What most captivated me as a subject were two smiths and a woman who stood outside the smithy grimacing toward the sun. They themselves asked me whether I wanted to paint them that way, and the next day I stood there with a large canvas and painted for fourteen days on the sunny farm.”

It was in the Romani quarter of Triana in Seville that Josephson encountered the three gitanos, whose roughness is underlined by the artist’s bold brushstrokes and whose dark skin, hair, and eyes are emphasized by their positioning in front of a bright limestone wall. The painting creates an immediate sense of intense sunlight, and we understand that we are in more southerly climes.

When Spanish Blacksmiths was displayed for the first time in 1885, its brutal honesty offended critics and the general public alike. The free-spiritedness and saucy vitality exhibited by the three raggedly dressed workers was probably perceived as a threat to middle-class ideals and behaviour.

Ernst Josephson’s career was one of two halves: before and after he became mentally ill. He was diagnosed with paranoia in 1888 and committed to a hospital, although he continued to work as an artist and create significant works. He also wrote poems after becoming ill.