Emma Chadwick

A Life Between Stockholm and Paris

Emma Hilma Amalia Löwstädt-Chadwick began her days in Stockholm, born in 1855 to a master tailor named Carl Rudolf Löwstädt. Her childhood was shaped by the steady presence of her father, who encouraged her hands to work with art, and by the loss of her mother when Emma was only nine. She spent her early years studying at the Technical School before entering the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts between 1874 and 1880. During these years, she sat in classrooms alongside other young women like Julia Beck and Jenny Nyström, learning the formal structures of her craft.

The pull of France eventually led her away from Sweden. After spending summers on the French coast, she moved to Paris in 1881 to study at the Académie Julian under Jean Charles Cazin and Tony Robert-Fleury. It was here that her focus began to shift. She found herself drawn to the light of the Breton coast, painting sheep and seaside scenes in the open air. This period of experimentation brought a new way of seeing, far removed from the rigid lessons of her academy training in Stockholm.

The Grez-sur-Loing Years

In 1882, Emma married the American painter Francis Brooks Chadwick. The couple found a home in the village of Grez-sur-Loing, a place that became a quiet center for many artists. They even took over Pension Laurent, an inn that served as a meeting point for travelers and painters. Living in this small community allowed her to maintain a steady practice while surrounded by a network of expatriate artists.

Her work during this time often captured the stillness of domestic life or the movement of the natural world. She moved between painting oil on panel and later, etching. Her subjects were often found in the quiet corners of interiors or under the sun of coastal towns. Some of her notable works include:

• Beach Parasol, Brittany (Portrait of Amanda Sidwall), an 1880 oil painting.
• Five o’clock tea, which earned her an honorable mention at the Salon in 1887.
• Fångvakterska, recognized with a mention at the Salon in 1889.
• Lokes fängslande, a piece that earned her a prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Art.

Recognition and Later Years

The Paris Salon became a regular stage for her work, with her paintings accepted there from the 1880s through as late as 1924. She also shared her art with audiences in Chicago at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. As time passed, her interest in printmaking grew, leading her to become a member of the Grafiska sällskapet in 1910.

Her travels took her far beyond the borders of France, reaching as far as Spain, North Africa, Italy, and the United States. Despite these movements, she remained connected to the artistic circles of her youth. She passed away in Avignon in 1932, leaving behind a body of work that reflects a life spent observing the light on the coast and the quiet rhythms of everyday existence.