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Elsa Beskow (1874-1953) - née Maartman |
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Swedish children's book writer and artist. Elsa Beskow was with John Bauer and Alice Tegnér one the founders of Swedish children's literature. She also illustrated some of Tegnér's works, including Mors lilla Olle (1903). Beskow's Vill du läsa? (1935-37) was used in many schools as the first reader. "Det var en gång en liten stad, och i den staden fanns en liten gata, och vid den liten gatan låg ett litet gult hus, och i det lilla huset bodde tre systrar: Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin. I verkligheten hette de nog något annat, men alla barnen i staden kallade dem så, för Tant Grönt hade alltid grön klänning, coh Tant Brun hade alltid brun klänning, and Tant Gredelin hade alltid gredelin klänning, och det var lika säkert, som att maskrosor är gula och blåklockor blå. (from Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin, saga ritad och berättad av Elsa Beskow, Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag förlag, 1933) Elsa Beskow was born Elsa Maartman in Stockholm, the daughter of Bernt Maartman, a businessman, and Augusta (Fahlstedt)
Maartman, a teacher. Bescow was the second of six children. In 1875 her father's business went bankrupt and
the family moved to the Old Town and then to Östermalm in Stockholm.
Beskow started to draw at an early age, deciding to become an artist.
An especially important person for her was her grandmother, Johanna
Wilhelmina, who told fairy tales. At home Beskow favorite writer was Zacharias Topelius. Johanna Wilhelmina died when Beskow was 13. This ended, according to Beskow, her "happy childhood." Bernt Maartman died of pneumonia in 1889. Augusta tried to support her family by opening a small shop, but she had to close it after two years. In 1890 Beskow entered the Tekniska skolan (Technical school) with her sister Malin. Malin studied there for only a few years – she died of cancer in 1907, and sorrow came again into the family. Beskow planned to continue at the Art Academy, but when this was not possible due to a shortage of money, she worked as an art teacher at the Whitlockska School from 1894 to 1897. In 1897 she married Natanael Beskow, an older art student, whom she had already met in 1892. The couple settled in 1901 at Villa Ekeliden in Djursholm, Stockholm's most prosperous suburb at the beginning of the twentieth century. Before
finally choosing the career of a teacher and
theologian, Natanael Beskow had studied painting. He was a radical pacifist
and an advocate of women's right to vote. For a long period, Natanael Beskow served as
chairman of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR)
Council. He became almost blind in his final years. Vera Brittain wrote of him with appreciation in The Rebel Passion: A Short History of Some Pioneer Peacemakers (1964). "His home was one of the happiest ever known to his many guests." (Ibid., p. 123) Beskow's youngest son Dag died
in
1922 in an accident while skating on ice. 'Jon Blunds paraply,' published in Det hände en gång (1944), referred to the loss. Two years after his death Beskow traveled to Palestine, at
least to catch a glimpse of the paradise where she believed her son
was. In the early 1930s Beskow went with her friend Signe von Kochin to the Mediterranean. Its sun and orange trees influenced Solägget (1932, The Sun Egg). After a deep depression she published Vill du läsa? (1935), in which she modernized Lisa from her illustrated fairy tale 'Lisas framtidsplaner' (1907). Beskow lived in Djursholm until her death in on Juni 30, 1953. Natanael Beskow died a few months later in October. In 1894 Beskow started to contribute to the children's magazine Jultomten (Father Christmas). Her first book, Sagan on det lilla, lilla gumman, came out in 1897. It depicted an old lady, who has a cow and a cat. The only luxury in her house is a portrait of King Karl XIV Johan. The old lady's unruly cat drinks all the milk from a bow and is chased away: "Och katten sprang till skogs och kom ALDRIG mer igen. Men kanske ändå att han kom hem till slut." (Beskow's beloved classic had a parodic sequel, when Thomas Halling and Gunna Grähs in 1997 published in The Tale of the Little, Little Cat. Written to celebrate the centenary of Beskow picturebook, it told the story from the cat's point of view.) Beskow's work was partly inspired by Walter Crane's and Kate Greenway's drawings. Crane was an advocate of the Jugend style and supporter of the slogan "art for people!" Beskow's breakthrough book was Puttes äfventyr i blåbärsskogen (1901, Peter’s Adventures in Blueberry Land). Central themes in Beskow's books were the relationship between children and adults and children's independent mind. It has been said, that Beskow and Alice Tegnér, the creator of several of Sweden's most loved children's songs, gave the kindergarten "a true Swedish character." ('In the Name of Froebel: Fundraising for Kindergartens in Sweden, 1900-45' by Johannes Westberg, in Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education: Transnational Investigations, edited by Helen May, Kristen Nawrotzki and Larry Prochner, 2018, p. 75) Beskow's major source for ideas was her childhood experiences. In addition, her own six children inspired her work. Pictures in Beskow's books are large, with carefully studied details of nature and bourgeois small town life. Texts are written in verse or in prose. Often Beskow combines reality with elements from the fairy tale world – ordinary children meet elves or goblins, ugly witches sulk on the street corners, and farm animals talk with people. In Resan till landet Längesen (1923, The Land of Long Ago) children's imagination create a dragon from a fallen tree trunk. Sometimes Beskow satirized manners, as in the poem about the foreign Mr. Tomato, who is envied by a local cucumber, admired by Miss Parsley, and imitated by small radishes. Beskow's most popular books include Tomtebobarnen (1910, Children of the Forest) and Peter och Lotta series (5 vols., 1918-47), the first of which was Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin (1918, Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender). In this story the children meet the colorful sisters and their little black poodle, named Dot: "There was once a little town, and in that town there was a little street, and in that street there was a little yellow house, and in the little yellow house there lived three sisters – Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender." Pelles nya kläder (1912, Pelle’s New Suit) emphasized the importance of honest work. Its illustration showed the influence of National Romanticism – a style that inspired many Nordic artists from the 1890s, among them Carl Larsson. Röda bussen och gröna bilen (1952, The Red Bus and the Green Car) depicted adventures of an archetypical Swedish car, Volvo. Though nature and rural environment provided the settings for the majority of Beskow's stories, this book was for urban readers. For about half a century, Beskow's idealized image of childhood
resonated with the collective consciousness of the Swedish public. In
the 1960s and 1970s hers work was considered by many
critics old-fashioned. The idyllic vision of rural Sweden, where good-natured
children help their parents, and animals, flowers, and fairy tale figures blend together in a harmony, was seen to present false
ideals. From the feminist point of view, Beskow's gender roles have been criticized as being too narrow. The father is
always strong and brave: he kills the viper in Tomtebobarnen (1910, Children of the Forest), whereas the mother is caring and kind: she teaches the children: "Never
hurt the creatures of the forest, unless they mean you harm."
Although Beskow herself grew up in a liberal environment, the
writer Gunvor Håkansson has argued that Beskow satisfies
authoritative ideals in
the upbringing of children, but Astrid Lindgren represents
more democratic principles. However, new generations of readers have discovered the delights of Beskow's carefully drawn books, which always have something interesting to show. Her works have been published around the world in many languages. Especially popular she has been especially in Japan, Norway, and in Finland, where her translators include the poets Eila Kivikk'aho and Eeva-Liisa Manner. For further reading: Natanael och Elsa Beskow: Studier och minnesbilder (1954); Elsa Beskow by Stina Hammar (1958); Elsa Beskow och Astrid Lindgren by Gunvor Håkansson (1967); Studier kring Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin by Per Bergman (1971); Samvetets politk. Natanael Beskow och hans omvärld intill 1921 by Öydind Sjöholm (1972); Natanael Beskow by Anja Wikström (1980); Elsa Beskow och hennes värld by Margareta Sjögren (1983); Vem är vem i svensk litteratur by Agneta & Lars Erik Blomqvist (1999); Solägget: Fantasi och verklighet in Elsa Beskow's konst by Stina Hammar (2002); 'Two original illustrations for the songbook Mors lilla Olle och andra visor af Alice Tegnér, created by Elsa Beskow in 1903' by Ulf Cederlöf, in Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum, Vol. 21 (2014); Föränderligt och beständigt En studie av Elsa Beskows berättarspråk by Aili Lundmark (2015); Ett rike av blåbär och lingon: Kulturnationalismens influenser på Elsa Beskows litterära verk by Lukas Olsson (2016); 'Competent children: childhood in Nordic children's literature from 1850 to 1960' by Åse Marie Ommundsen, in Nordic Childhoods 1700-1960: From Folk Beliefs to Pippi Longstocking, edited by Reidar Aasgaard, Marcia Bunge, Merethe Roos (2018); Bilderbuch - Lesebuch - Künstlerbuch: Elsa Beskows Ästhetik des Materiellen by Petra Bäni Rigler (2019) - Natanael Beskow (1865-1953), theologian, educator, who also wrote several psalms. Among his works is Psalmer and andra dikter (1944). Selected works:
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