Fanny Brate

Fanny Brate
Portrait of Fanny Brate by Hildegard Thorell (1918)
Born	Ekbom 26 February 1861 Stockholm, Sweden
Died	22 April 1940 (aged 79)
Nationality	Swedish
Education	Konstfack, Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
Known for	Painting
Notable work	A Day of Celebration Konstvänner

Fanny Ingeborg Matilda Brate, nee Ekbom, (February 26, 1862–April 24, 1940) was a Swedish painter. Fanny Brate's paintings influenced Carl Larsson, and her work is seen as the inspiration for his watercolors of idyllic family life.

Biography

Fanny Brate was the daughter of John Frederic Oscar Gustaf Ekbom, a clerk in the household of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland. In 1880, at the age of eighteen she was accepted at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, after having graduated from Konstfack. In 1887 Fanny Brate married runologist Erik Brate (1857–1924). They had four girls, Astrid (1888–1929), Torun (1891–1993), Ragnhild (1892–1894), Ingegerd (1899–1952). After her marriage, she was forced to give up painting, but continued her involvement in the Swedish art world as a patron for other artists. Brate became a member of Svenska Konstnärernas Förening (the Swedish artists' association) in 1891.

Works

A Day of Celebration, Oil on canvas, 1902.

In 1885 she received a Royal Medal in recognizion of her skillful work Konstvänner which portrays Brate surrounded by a crowd of children.

She is best known, however, for Namnsdag (A Day of Celebration), painted in 1902, which today hangs at the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.

In addition, Fanny Brate illustrated many children's books, such as Mormors eventyr (Grandma's Adventures).

The National Museum held a memorial exhibition of her collected works in 1943, where 126 works were displayed. She painted both in oil and watercolors. Her work has significant cultural heritage value in its depiction of Swedish nineteenth century Bourgeoisie life.^[1]

Exhibitions

• Müsse el Grinden Internationale Kunstausstellung Munich in 1892.
• Grosse Kunstausstellung Berlin in 1900.
• "The female art" at the Swedish artists association exhibition in 1909
• Liljevalch "They went to Paris"

Notes

1. National Museum exhibition catalogs No. 93