Early Life, Family and Training Johan Ericson was born on 17 October 1849 in the Karlshamn church parish, Sweden. His early years were shaped by a family in transition; his father, Anders Eriksson, was a woodcarver who emigrated to America when Johan was only four years old. He was raised by his mother, Johanna, née Petersson, in a household where the practicalities of craft and the realities of separation were part of the domestic landscape. His formal artistic development began in earnest when he entered the Royal Institute of Art. Between 1872 and 1878, he refined his technical skills un…