Jag skall bli Sveriges Rembrandt eller dö!

The films portrays the Swedish painte and poet Ernst Josephson (1851-1906). We get to know the artist through his letters, poems, articles, friends, critics and of course - his paintings. In the 1880s he led the young artists in protest against the philistene academie and in the salons of Paris. In 1988 he made a powerful impression on French critics. He became a central figure among his artist friends as a booming-voiced singer and eccentric. Basically, however, he was a lonely man, highly sensitive and vulnerable. After 1988 he drifted into mental illness, but continued to work. His paintings from this period are astonishingly modern and have inspired painters of the new century. (texte officiel du distributeur)