death_date death_place birth_place training nationality field birth_date image article_title name
22 november 1906 stockholm , sweden stockholm , sweden royal swedish academy of arts , stockholm swedish painting 16 april 1851 ernst josephson.jpg ernst josephson
 ernst josephson
ernst josephson

ernst josephson -lrb- 16 april 1851 , stockholm , sweden -- 22 november 1906 -rrb- was a swedish painter from a prominent jewish family , whose main work was done on portraits and paintings of folk life .
he did his art studies in italy , france and the netherlands , among others , and is reputed to have said at the age of 20 : '' `` i will become sweden 's rembrandt or die '' . ''
however , his life was marred by illness .
he contracted syphilis at a relatively young age , and in 1888 he became mentally ill during a visit to brittany , having religious hallucinations and believing that he was god and christ .
he was later taken to hospital in uppsala and diagnosed with schizophrenia , but continued working throughout his disease , often while in a trance-like state .
he also wrote poetry , in the collections `` svarta rosor '' -lrb- 1888 , `` black roses '' -rrb- and `` gula rosor '' -lrb- 1896 , `` yellow roses '' -rrb- .
his main work , `` näcken '' -lrb- 1884 , `` the nix '' -rrb- , was refused by the swedish national museum in stockholm -- however , prince eugén , duke of närke , bought the painting in fury over the decision .
josephson 's painting `` strömkarlen '' shows the strong influence he has had on the current crop of scandinavian figurative painters , most notably the norwegian odd nerdrum .
actor erland josephson is his grandson .
