John Bauer, born in Sweden in 1882, had a father from Bayern and a mother from Sweden. The excellent illustrator is not generally well known outside his birth country, although his paintings are of world class.

His most famous works seem to be the illustrations in the books Among Elves and Trolls (Bland Tomtar och Troll). This series have many favourite stories for children in Sweden (and other countries). The stories were written by various Swedish authors and were published at Christmas time each year.

John Bauer died tragically in 1918, at age 35, when he drowned with his wife, Ester, and their 3-year old son, Bengt, also called Putte. The ferry they were travelling on sank in the dark waters of Lake Vättern (in Sweden). The captain, the crew and all passengers perished.

Paintings may include elves, princesses and fairy tale knights, which make them both beautiful and charming. 

One of the more famous paintings is the one of "Princess Tuvstarr" sitting at the pond (you can see this as part of the picture in the background (composite picture above).

LINKS  TO JOHN BAUER WEBSITES

If you would like to find out more about John Bauer or to study his paintings, please search the net under his name.

John Bauer Museum in Jönköping, Sweden (John Bauer's place of birth)

Paintings by John Bauer              

All about Trolls - Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopaedia

Pictures of John Bauer's Paintings - Wikimedia


Please Note: John Bauer paintings, on this site, are seemingly not under copyright. If, for some reason, there are claims on the pictures, please advise by

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