This painting illustrates the relationship between two of the most prominent figures in Swedish cultural history – the painter Carl Larsson and the writer August Strindberg.

Strindberg and Carl Larsson met already in the 1870s, and Carl Larsson made illustrations and covers for some of Strindberg’s books during the following decade. This portrait was painted in 1899 and Carl Larsson has described his work with the picture:

“We started in the morning, divided the day into three with meals in between, and the next morning, early, Strindberg was standing by my bed at the hotel exclaiming: ‘A masterpiece, do not touch”.

This might be the reason for the unfinished character of the picture, where only the eyes are coloured in blue and the rest is still only a charcoal drawing on canvas.