In New York, Ava called herself de Lagercrantz rather than just Lagercrantz to inform clients that she was of noble (and non-Jewish) birth and therefore entitled to a slightly higher fee than other comparable artists. (http://aminports3.blogspot.nl/2012/02/de-lagercrantz-ava-portrait-of.html) Ava the Lagercrantz, born Hedvig Gustafva Lagercrantz, Sept. 7, 1862 in Karlskrona, died 6 May 1938; Swedish artist based in New York (1903-1923), Stockholm (1923-1936) and Paris (1936-1938). She studied with Kerstin Cardon in Stockholm and Professor Jules Lefebvre in Paris. Like her mentor, she painted portraits with outstanding accuracy. She participated in the Paris Salon in 1888, in 1889 and in 1890. In New York, she painted miniatures, landscapes and floral still lifes. While residing in New York, she was called twice to Sweden to paint Oscar II, Gustaf V. In Paris, she did the portrait of August Strindberg (1849-1912), which now hangs at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. In 1935 she had an exhibition in the House of Artists in Stockholm. Lagercrantz was a cousin of Sweden's ambassador in Washington Herman Lagercrantz, and this became a conduit for orders of portraits in oil, pastel and miniature from the diplomatic corps, the opera world and prominent New Yorkers. She was the daughter of Vice Admiral Jacob Reinhold Lagercrantz, and niece of Finance Gustaf Lagercrantz. Her portrait of her father was awarded first prize at the Paris Salon in 1890. At the 1889 Paris Salon, she placed a self portrait, pictured in the catalog. In 1896 she painted the first of his two portraits of Oscar II. She died unmarried and childless in Paris. She rests in the large family grave at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm. (Google translation from Swedish of https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ava_de_Lagercrantz undefined

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