Career Subjects
Bauer's favorite subject was Swedish nature, the dense forests where the light trickled down through the mighty tree canopies. Ever since he was little he had wandered in the deep, dark woods of Småland imagining all the creatures living there.[55][56] He painted places easily recognizable to anyone who has ever been in the Swedish woods. (I'm not sure what the point is - what is unique about Swedish woods over other forests?) He is best known for his illustrations of Among Gnomes and Trolls.[57]
In a 1953 article in Allers Familje-journal (Allers Family Journal), his friend Ove Eklund stated that "although [Bauer] only mumbled about and never said clearly", he believed that all the creatures he drew actually existed. Eklund had on several occasions accompanied Bauer on his walks through the forests by Lake Vättern, and Bauer's description of all the things he thought existed made Eklund feel he could see them as well.[58]
- Ove Eklund on Bauer:
- Yes, there he was, John Bauer, with his brown, eternal pipe glued to the corner of his mouth. Now and then he blew a small cloud of brown troll smoke straight up into the turquoise-bleu, sun-sparkling space. And muttered something far behind his tight, narrow lips—not always so easy to decipher. But I, having had the key for many years, understood most of it.[58]
Inspiration
Bauer and his friends were part of an "in-between generation" in Swedish art. The new modernism movement in Europe was still some years away (is this true, wasn't it underway?), but at the same time Bauer's group (contemporaries?) were considerably younger than the artists still dominating the Swedish art scene: Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn and Bruno Liljefors.[21] Bauer was inspired by these artists, but also came in contact with the works of Fritz Erler, Max Klinger and other German illustrators, due to his heritage.[59] He lived in an era when the Old Norse were romanticized throughout Scandinavia, and he borrowed ideas and motifs from artists like Theodor Kittelsen and Erik Werenskiöld, yet his finished works were very much his own. [60] After his journey to Italy his works clearly showed elements from the 14th century renaissance. The pictures of princes and princesses had elements from Flandic tapestries, and even the trolls got (had?) pleats in their attire much like those seen in antique Roman sculptures.[61]
Style
Bauer's painting technique was had a time consuming technique when painting: he would start with first drew a small sketch, no bigger than a stamp, with just the basic shapes. Then he would make another, slightly bigger, sketch with more details. The sketches grew progressively in size and detail until the work reached its final size. Most of the originals for About Gnomes and Trolls are square pictures about 20 to 25 centimetres (7.9 to 9.8 inches). He doodled on anything at hand, from used stationary to the back of an envelope.[62] Many of his sketches look almost like cartoon strips where the pictures get bigger increased in size and became increasingly more detailed (in the progression?). He would also do made several versions of the same finished picture subject, such as one summer and one winter version.[63][64] He also did not observe the traditional hierarchy in the mediums or techniques at that time. For instance, hHe could make a complete work in pencil or charcoal, just as well as a or sketch in oil.[65]
At the beginning of his career as an illustrator, Bauer was hindered by the high cost of printing illustrations with multiple colors printing technique at that time: printing with all colors was very expensive, and therefore not normally done, so he had to settle for one color plus black.[66] But as the printing process developed and his works became more in were in greater demand, the pictures gained he added more color until they his illustrations were finally printed in full color.[67]