Anders Zorn gained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etcher. Although from humble beginnings he became a celebrated member of the European and American upper classes. Throughout his career the guiding principle of his art was the effect of light on every subject he drew, painted, or etched.
During the 1880s and early 1890s Zorn traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States predominantly concentrating on portraiture. He was particularly popular in the U.S. and made seven visits to fulfill many portrait commissions, such as the great Boston art patron Isabella Stewart Gardner and three U.S. Presidents (Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt).
In 1869 Zorn returned to his hometown of Mora, Sweden where he continued as a portraitist, but also painted Swedish rustic life with its traditional costumes.