At the Piano 1900

Carl Larsson painted this atmospheric watercolour titled ‘At the Piano’ in Sweden at the turn of the 20th Century, a time of industrial advancement, and social reform. Larsson was a champion of family life and domesticity. However, this interior scene suggests more than the simple pleasures of bourgeois life. The solitary figure at the piano, bathed in a shaft of light, strikes a melancholic note. There is a sense of distance, both physical and psychological, between the viewer and the pianist. The grand, yet dimly lit room speaks to the gendered expectations of women at the time. Confined to the domestic sphere, their creative and intellectual aspirations were often relegated to parlor activities such as playing music. As Larsson once said, “Art is the best thing in the world, but not worth a life.” With this in mind, consider how ‘At the Piano’ gently probes the complexities of identity, aspiration, and the spaces women inhabit.