Carl Samuel Graffman - Eleven drawings of various subjects

Carl Samuel Graffman (1801–1862) Sweden

Eleven drawings of various subjects mounted on a printed sheet

Signed: "Originalarbete af C. Graffman" (Original work by C. Graffman)
Various techniques and sizes
Sheet size: 200 x 357 mm

Literature:
S.-Å. Nilsson, Fragment av ett liv. En biografi över landskapsmålaren Carl Samuel Graffman, p. 101, illustrated in full color

Exhibited:
Stockholm, Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Carl Samuel Graffman, March 3–May 28, 2006

Essay:
Drawn at Danviken Hospital between 1841 and 1842.

Swedish art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries would appear significantly diminished if the works of artists who struggled with mental illness were excluded. Without making distinctions between “ill” and “healthy,” it can be said that artists such as C.F. Hill and Ernst Josephson produced works during their illnesses that are regarded as indispensable. To this group can be added two relatively unknown artists outside academic circles: Johan Fredrik Hörling (1718–1786) and Carl Samuel Graffman. Both suffered from mental illness early in their lives, which explains the relatively limited number of works created during their mentally stable periods.

Pivotal to the understanding of Graffman as an artist is Gunnar Jungmarker’s article, Carl Samuel Graffman and His Disease Drawings, published in Nationalmusei årsbok in 1935. In 1966, Karin Melander wrote an unpublished dissertation titled Carl Samuel Graffman: A Forgotten 19th-Century Artist. In 1995, Professor Sten-Åke Nilsson published an article about Graffman in Artes titled Drawn After Nature: Carl Samuel Graffman. Graffman’s art, however, only gained public recognition in 2005, when Nilsson published the first comprehensive monograph on him, Fragment of a Life: A Biography of the Landscape Painter Carl Samuel Graffman. This was followed the same year by an exhibition at Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde. In 2008, Nilsson further explored Graffman’s life in an article for Biblis titled The Eagle in a Cage, where he presented newly discovered documents about Graffman’s life.

Carl Samuel Graffman began his career as a Romantic landscape painter and graphic artist. During his time at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, he was a student of Professor Carl Johan Fahlcrantz, Sweden's leading landscape painter at the time. Fahlcrantz regarded Graffman as his most talented student. In the summer and autumn of 1830, Graffman traveled to Scotland, which at the time was celebrated as the romantic land of Ossian and Sir Walter Scott. Graffman visited Scott at his home in Abbotsford, likely through Fahlcrantz’s recommendation. Guided by Scott’s advice, Graffman traveled extensively across Scotland, visiting historical and scenic sites. He was particularly captivated by the wild landscapes of the Highlands. This journey inspired Skottska Vuer (Scottish Views), a series of lithographs by Carl Johan Billmark based on Graffman’s sketches, accompanied by text from Thure Vensjö and published in 1833. The work became widely popular and solidified Graffman’s reputation. He also produced oil paintings based on his Scottish sketches, which were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Several of these were purchased by King Karl XIV Johan and are now housed at Rosendal Castle in Stockholm.

In 1834, Graffman received a three-year travel grant to study in France. However, towards the end of his stay, in 1836, he experienced a severe mental breakdown and was admitted to Charenton Mental Hospital near Paris for a year. After his recovery, he returned to Sweden in 1837, arriving in Stockholm during a politically volatile period.

In 1838, tensions peaked during the Crusenstolpe Affair, which sparked riots and unrest in Stockholm. Graffman, displaying a growing interest in political discourse, became embroiled in these turbulent events. At a breakfast gathering in Castenhoff’s cellar, he reportedly expressed anti-Russian sentiments and brandished pistols, declaring his intent to assassinate the visiting Russian emperor. This outburst led to his arrest, during which he fell into a state of extreme rage and was subsequently committed to Danviken Mental Hospital in July 1838.

During his confinement at Danviken, Graffman resumed artistic activity for a brief period between 1841 and 1842. Approximately 200 of his drawings survive from this time, the majority now housed in museum collections. These works consist largely of landscape motifs, portraits of fellow patients and staff, and imaginative depictions inspired by his memories. Many drawings were created on scraps of paper, letter fragments, or repurposed book pages. Most are executed in miniature format, with some small enough to fit as many as twenty pieces on a single folio sheet. However, Graffman also produced more elaborate studies of trees on larger paper. His landscapes, often based on the views from the windows of Danviken, range from realistic depictions to imagined rural scenes with dramatic mountains, forests, and rapids. These works, infused with a brooding darkness, anticipate Marcus Larsson’s atmospheric depictions of nature from the 1850s.

After 23 years at Danviken, Graffman was transferred to the newly established Konradsberg Hospital in 1861. He died there the following year, leaving behind a body of work that reflects his isolation, imagination, and resilience. Graffman’s drawings from Danviken stand out as deeply personal and original contributions to Swedish art history, transcending conventional frameworks and providing a poignant insight into his life and struggles.