Brief Biography-John Bauer was a native of Jonkoping, Sweden. He moved to Stockholm in 1898, where he studied at The Royal Academy of Art and met his wife, Ester. He accepted a commission to do a book on Lapland in 1904 and spent several months observing the Laps on their many journeys.
He began his illustrations for Among Gnomes and Trolls in 1907. It was eight volumes long, written by various authors, and it was to be one of his most famous works. In 1908, he went to Italy for two years, gaining inspiration from the antiquities he observed in the museum of Naples.
He later suffered from depression, and his marriage was breaking. So, in 1918, they moved from their remote country house in Bokade to Stockholm to start anew. As John did not like trains, they travelled by ferry, tragically the weather turned stormy, and the ship sank, drowning all crew and passengers.