Sunday, July 5, 2009

Carl XV, King and Artist

I'm currently in Vail, Colorado, where the Dallas Symphony is in residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. I hadn't expected to find much of a monarchical nature, though it was not far from Vail that Alfonso de Bourbon (1936-1989), father of the current "Legitimist" pretender to the French throne, was killed twenty years ago in a skiing accident in Beaver Creek. On a happier note, however, I was delighted to discover yesterday when wandering into a charming art gallery, "The Englishman," that one of their paintings, "A Mountain Landscape," had been painted in 1868 by King Carl XV of Sweden & Norway (1826-1872)! I didn't really have $58,000 to spare, but the clerk kindly printed out a copy for me. I hadn't known of Carl XV's artistic abilities, but apparently they were considerable.

3 comments:

J.K. Baltzersen said...

Sir:

His brother and successor, Oscar II, was also active in the arts, but not so much in painting, I believe.

Also, whether he was Carl/Karl XV or IV of Norway is subject to debate.

BTW, if I recall correctly you have expressed displeasure with no royal heritage in your current resident state of Texas. You should check out New Braunfels.

J.K. Baltzersen said...

A Norwegian historian has a related two week old post.

May said...

Beautiful painting!