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Nationalmuseum Stockholm
content 7 Famous or Forgotten in the Nationalmuseum s Collections mikael ahlund 16 Highlights 163 Selfies Now and Then margareta gynning 183 Artist index
introduction Famous or Forgotten in the Nationalmuseum s Collections mikael ahlund Highlights: Famous and Forgotten Art Treasures from Nationalmuseum presents a selection of the bestknown and most popular works in the Museum s collections many of them eagerly awaited and in demand during the present closure of the Museum for renovation. The display features paintings, sculptures, applied arts and design. Rubbing shoulders with French artists such as Paul Cézanne, Auguste Renoir and Berthe Morisot are famous works by Scandinavian fin de siècle painters like Anders Zorn, Bruno Liljefors, Carl Larsson, Eva Bonnier, August Strindberg and many others. In addition, gems from the older collections of the Museum are presented, among them 17th-century Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Judith Leyster, and 18th-century French artists such as Jean Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and Anne Vallayer-Coster. The exhibition also includes a range of key works from the Nationalmuseum s collection of applied art and design from the Renaissance to our own day. Alongside Meissen porcelain and faience from Marieberg, for instance, there are examples of modern design and works by 6 I 7
contemporary Swedish and international applied artists such as Michael Eden, Eva Hild and Frida Fjellman. Finally, a section of the show takes a more in-depth look at portraits, under the heading Selfies Now and Then (p. 163). At the same time as Highlights: Famous and Forgotten Art Treasures from Nationalmuseum showcases a rich array of celebrated paintings, sculptures and works of applied art, it also poses the question why certain works of art have become more renowned and popular than others. Words like highlights, classics or masterpieces are used frequently and often unquestioningly in museum catalogues and on art museums websites. But what in fact constitutes a masterpiece? Who decides? And how have views of such works shifted through history? Researchers, critics and writers have shown a great deal of interest in recent decades in questions like these questions about what forces, past and present, have shaped and continue to shape our view of art and its history. Such issues have attracted particular attention in fields of research such as museology and in discussions about an art-historical canon. Canon, in this context, means the creation of a view of art history as a structured value hierarchy that gives certain artworks and the oeuvre of certain artists a special position, while regarding others as less significant and therefore excluding or marginalising them. Two factors that have been identified as important in forming such a canon are the early art museums and the establishment of art history as a discipline in the 19th century: in museum galleries and the art-historical literature, a narrative of the history of art took shape, in which artists of genius and individual masterworks were held up as fixed stars. Since then, a variety of forces have continued to confirm and modify this art history of masterpieces. What art museums choose to show, what is given prominence in reference works on art history, and in teaching in higher education, serves to bring certain artists to the fore and tone down the significance of others. There has been particular discussion in recent years of the role of museums as a normative power factor. In this process of creating, maintaining or modifying notions of art history, a series of other factors also come into play television programmes, tourism and guidebooks, as well as the art market and auction houses. All contribute in their various ways to consolidating a ranking of artworks and artists. Art museums, though, are a key player in this process and the Nationalmuseum is no exception. Highlights: Famous and Forgotten Art Treasures from Nationalmuseum discusses the road to stardom of individual works of art, as well as presenting some that were once well known, but which, for various reasons, have in recent times fallen more or less into oblivion. Space is also devoted to a number of works rarely or never before shown in the Museum unknown but fascinating pieces not previously recognised as highlights, but which certainly deserve our attention. The selection presented here thus represents a mixed bag of art history, bringing together celebrated masterpieces and forgotten or relatively unknown ones. A few examples can serve to illustrate how different artists and works have stepped into and out of the art-historical limelight. One is provided by Rembrandt. The Nationalmuseum s collection includes a series of his paintings which for centuries have been accorded 8 I 9
the status of masterpieces like The Kitchen Maid from 1651 (p. 36). But there are also works that have fallen from those heights. The painting St Anastasius (p. 38) was long seen as one of the important Rembrandts in the Museum s possession. It was admired and copied in the late 19th century by artists such as Ernst Josephson, who maintained that he would become Sweden s Rembrandt or die. But when, a hundred years later, researchers put forward solid evidence that Rembrandt could not be the artist behind this painting, its status changed. Since then, it has not been shown as frequently as before, and it is no longer in demand for prestigious international exhibitions. But it is still the same painting, with the same qualities and the same subtle treatment of light as were so admired by visitors to the Museum in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other works have enjoyed celebrity status since they were created, and have retained it to this day. François Boucher s painting The Triumph of Venus (p. 48) was first shown at the Paris Salon of 1740 and was immediately praised to the skies by contemporary critics. When Carl Gustaf Tessin brought the painting to Sweden the following year, therefore, it was as an internationally renowned masterpiece. As such, it eventually came to occupy a central place in Sweden s royal collections. Referred to by the poet Carl Michael Bellman in the 18th century and reproduced in the 19th on one of Gustavsberg s monumental urns, created for the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897, The Triumph of Venus consistently retained its lustre. Ever since the painting was transferred to the Nationalmuseum in 1866, it has been one of its best-known and most popular artworks constantly written about and reproduced in the arthistorical literature. Other 18th-century artists have charted a different course through history. Anne Vallayer-Coster was the leading French still-life painter of the second half of that century, becoming a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris in 1770. But in the art history books of the 19th and 20th centuries she received scant attention and was completely overshadowed by male artists such as Jean-Siméon Chardin. Only in recent decades has her artistic achievement once more been brought to prominence in international exhibitions. Since the Nationalmuseum acquired one of her paintings in 1995 (p. 56), this newly discovered visual world has lent a further dimension to the Museum s collection of French Rococo masters. Sometimes, the reason the work of earlier, forgotten artists is rediscovered is that their idiom and expression are found to correspond to those of modern art. A work by the Dutch genre painter Constantin Verhout, active in the 17th century, is a case in point (p. 40). When his Sleeping Student was brought to wider notice in the major Rembrandt exhibition in 1992, interest in it was prompted by associations with a more modern aesthetic in the catalogue, it was pointed out that the painting s arrangement of piled-up books recalled the formal language of 20th-century artists such as Giorgio Morandi. From being a forgotten work relegated to the Museum s store, Verhout s painting has since become popular, making frequent appearances in the galleries of the Museum. A similar pattern emerges regarding Ernst Josephson and Carl Fredrik Hill (pp. 142 and 140), who attracted considerable interest in the 20th century. The visual affinity between modern art and the strange pictorial worlds these artists developed in their periods of mental illness secured them a prominent place in the historiography of art in Sweden during that century. 10 I 11
There are many instances of disparaged or marginalised artists being reappraised in modern times and included in an art-historical canon. Another Swedish example is August Strindberg (p. 144). Although his painting did attract attention during his lifetime, in the first half of the 20th century it met with very limited interest and was regarded more as a curiosity. Only from the 1960s on were his pictures taken seriously, garnering constantly growing interest. In art museums and exhibitions, and not least on the art market, Strindberg s paintings have now achieved an unprecedented star status. Yet another interesting example, and one that shows the Nationalmuseum and the Swedish public to have been out of step with their times, concerns the French Impressionists. In the late 19th century, this radical artistic movement was not what primarily caught the interest of Swedish artists or travellers in France. For many Scandinavians, Realism and the more moderate forms of plein-air painting remained the most appreciated directions in French art. Not until the 1910s and 1920s did Swedish collectors and curators have their eyes opened to the Impressionists. Amidst the turmoil of a world war, and in the years that followed, the Nationalmuseum purchased several works by leading figures of the movement (pp. 146 153). The Museum s collection of French Impressionists can thus be described, historically, as a post hoc reconstruction, but in the 20th century and our own day it has attracted huge interest. The reasons and time frames for the celebrity of different works and the special place they hold in the Nationalmuseum s collections can thus vary. Olof Arborelius painted his view of a lake at Engelsberg in 1893, and the work was bought for the Museum the following year (p. 114). It has since been one of the Museum s best-loved paintings. Its designation by the Swedish Tourist Association in 1935 as the quintessential Picture of Sweden helped to make it famous, and in that capacity the painting was reproduced in a host of different contexts. It is also the work in the Museum s collection most often copied by visiting artists and art students. One of Arborelius s contemporaries had to wait longer for recognition. Anna Boberg s many stays in the Lofoten Islands in Norway resulted in numerous paintings (p. 132). During her lifetime, these depictions of mountain scenery, northern lights and the midnight sun drew positive attention abroad, but met with a cooler reception in Sweden. And for much of the 20th century, her paintings were as a rule consigned to the Nationalmuseum store despite her being, without comparison, the artist represented by most works in the collection. Only in recent years has Boberg s art once more begun to attract notice in publications and exhibitions. A similar pattern can be seen for several of the women artists of the 19th century presented here successful in their lifetimes and yet excluded from the art history books of the 20th century, and only in recent decades beginning to regain the interest of art historians and museums. For their male counterparts, the tide has sometimes turned the other way. Several of the artists regarded in the 19th century as constituting the cream of the Museum s collection are now largely forgotten. A number of the Swedish history and genre painters of that period for example, who in their own lifetime enjoyed great prestige, have come to be overshadowed 12 I 13
by other artists and artistic directions. The great esteem in which the 19th century held artists such as Johan Gustaf Sandberg, Axel Kulle or other painters of the Düsseldorf school has not been shared to the same extent by the publics or museum curators of more recent times. Swedish applied artists of the same century have suffered a similar fate. Carl Hjalmar Norrström s steel urn from the 1890s (p. 98) was viewed with distaste by the modernist eyes of the 20th century and was quickly banished to the darkness of the stores. But for everything there is a season. For these artists, too, there may be hope of stepping into the limelight again as in the present exhibition. The forces shaping the artistic canon, moreover, can sometimes come from unexpected quarters. Among the works featured in a new edition of the British book 1001 Paintings You Must See before You Die (2011), for instance, is Johan Gustaf Sandberg s King Gustav Vasa Addressing Men from Dalarna in Mora from 1836 (p. 84). A recurring reason why the work of a number of artists has remained invisible for long periods is the simple fact that, owing to limitations of space, the Museum has been unable to display objects from its collections to the extent that would be desirable. This is true, not least, of the collection of applied art. Important works such as Ettore Sottsass s Monument to Mustard or Magdalena Abakanowicz s textile sculpture Abakan, for example, have rarely or never been shown at the Museum since they were created in the 1960s and 1970s. A contributory factor with these particular pieces has been their tremendous size and in the latter case perhaps a shift in taste since the 1970s. All the more gratifying, then, that they can now be brought into the spotlight again, in both the exhibition and this publication (pp. 156 and 160). It is thus clear that what the Nationalmuseum and other art galleries and museums do or don t do with their collections significantly affects how views of art history evolve and change. A reasonable conclusion, then, is that this exhibition, too, will help to consolidate but hopefully also to modify an art-historical canon. Naturally, the works shown have a greater chance of becoming well known than the ones that have been excluded. But one aim here besides exhibiting some of the works from the Museum s collections that are most in demand is to draw attention to less familiar artworks and artists, in order to make room for them, too, in the public art-historical space in which the Museum operates. And in order to show that a canon is not simply a matter of conserving certain established works seen as an inalienable part of our cultural heritage, but rather something that must be constantly on the move, shaped by new eyes, feelings and experiences. An understanding of the forces that mould our notions of art and its history whether it be museums, art history writing, guidebooks or sale catalogues will hopefully make us all more aware and better equipped in the face of claims about what constitute highlights or masterpieces. Our experience of art arises in a personal encounter with each artwork. Ultimately, it is the individual viewer who decides what is or is not important. 14 I 15
Jarra or the Alhambra Vase, glazed earthenware, mounts in bronze and Kolmården marble Granada end of 14th century, mounts Stockholm mid 18th century The Islamic palace of Alhambra was decorated in the 14th century with a number of large vases. The Nationalmuseum s Alhambra Vase has a form recalling the amphora of antiquity, and its decoration consists of arabesques, Arabic characters, bands and medallions. It came to Sweden with the war booty from Prague in 1648, becoming part of Queen Christina s art collection. When the vase was placed in Lovisa Ulrika s library at Drottningholm, it was provided with mounts designed by Carl Hårleman, partly to conceal old damage. AB Height 155 cm Transferred from Drottningholm 1866 Nationalmuseum, NMK 47 18 I 19
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 1553) Lucretia, 1528 According to tradition, Lucretia was a beautiful noblewoman of ancient Rome. She was the virtuous wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, whose uncle was the last king of the city. Lucretia took her own life after being raped by one of the king s sons. The incident is said to have sparked a revolt in which the royal family was overthrown, marking the start of the Roman Republic. It was a subject the German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder and his contemporaries frequently returned to. This painting probably belonged to King Gustav Vasa s collection of art. LH Oil on wood, 57r 38 cm Presented by Axel Bielke 1869 Nationalmuseum, NM 1080 20 I 21
Dosso Dossi (1486 1541/42) Portrait of a Man Wearing a Black Beret, c. 1530 This type of portrait can be linked to the aristocratic ideal that emerged early in the 16th century in Renaissance Italy. It was an ideal described in Baldassare Castiglione s famous book The Courtier (1528) and captured in images by Italian painters such as Raphael, Titian or, as here, Dosso Dossi. In this painting the subject, in a characteristic beard, elegant costume and hat, leans at an open window overlooking a landscape. The work was part of the art collection of the abdicated Queen Christina in Rome. LH Oil on canvas, 85.5r 71 cm Presented by Hjalmar Linder 1919 Nationalmuseum, NM 2163 22 I 23
Wine cooler, interior motif depicting the Battle of Thapsus, maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) Attributed to the workshop of Orazio Fontana, painting probably after a design by Taddeo Zuccaro (1529 1566), Urbino c. 1570 The Nationalmuseum s large collection of Urbino maiolica was among the spoils of war taken from the treasury of Rudolf II in Prague in 1648. The objects belonged to Queen Christina, who took some fifty pieces with her when she moved to Rome in 1654. Despite this, around a hundred maiolica objects from Urbino remain in the Museum s collections. The motif in the bottom of this wine cooler is a scene from the Roman civil war, the Battle of Thapsus in North Africa, in which Julius Caesar triumphed in 46 bc. AB Height 37 cm, diam. 58 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 Nationalmuseum, NMK 67 24 I 25
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (c. 1527 1593) The Lawyer, possibly Ulrich Zasius, (1461 1536), humanist and jurist, 1566 Arcimboldo s paintings show human figures made up of different objects, with the aim of representing a particular subject. Here, a pile of books and documents has been draped in a fur-trimmed gown. The face consists of birds and fishes. The portrait is assumed to be of an official or scholar, possibly the lawyer Ulrich Zasius. Arcimboldo s allegorical paintings were held in great esteem by Maximilian II and Rudolf II. This one belonged to the imperial collections in Prague and was brought to Sweden after the Thirty Years War. ELK Oil on canvas, 64r 51 cm Nationalmuseum, Swedish National Portrait Gallery, NMGrh 1227 26 I 27
Joos de Momper (1564 1635) Mountain Landscape, 1620s This painting depicts a dramatic, north European mountain landscape. The sharp outlines of the wooded slopes in the foreground, with a ravine and a waterfall, stand out against the backdrop of a valley and distant blue mountains a fantasy landscape very much representative of the Flemish tradition from the 16th century on. The light entering the scene touches the highest treetops and illuminates broad swathes of the landscape stretching out below. Groups of travellers and pilgrims make their way along a road edged by tall cliffs and steep precipices. CF Oil on wood, 76.8r 122.5 cm Bequeathed by Martin von Wahrendorff 1863 Nationalmuseum, NM 372 28 I 29
Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573 1621) Still Life with a Vase of Flowers, 1620 The floral still life emerged around 1600, reflecting the great interest of the period in botany. One of the pioneers was Bosschaert. His compositions, painted for royal cabinets of curiosities, represented idealised bouquets, bringing together plants from different seasons. Here, in a terracotta vase, we see illusionistically depicted blooms both cultivated rarities and meadow flowers. The insects, like the flowers, symbolise the transitoriness of life. Individual plants recur in several paintings, showing that the artist worked partly from sketches or prints. CF Oil on wood, 130.3r 85.5 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 (Gustav III 1792) Nationalmuseum, NM 373 30 I 31
Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1603 1683/84) A Vanitas Still Life with a Skull, a Book and Roses, c. 1630 This painting is an allegory of the transience of life. It shows a number of objects symbolising the fleetingness of time and the vanity of all human ambition. As moral and religious metaphors, they exhort the viewer to observe moderation in worldly affairs and sensual pleasures. In depicting these objects, the artist is also showing off his skill at imitating reality his painted roses admittedly spread no seductive fragrance, but nor will they ever wilt and die. CF Oil on wood, 23.2r 34.6 cm Purchased 1989 Nationalmuseum, NM 6842 32 I 33
Judith Leyster (1609 1660) Boy Playing the Flute, 1630s There were many women artists in the 17th century, especially in northern Europe. Most of them were court painters, but in Holland they were able, like Judith Leyster, to join the Guild of St Luke and become masters in their own right. Leyster had her own studio with students in Haarlem in the 1630s, and mainly painted genre pictures of people making music. Boy Playing the Flute was for a long time attributed to Frans Hals. Many female artists were made invisible in this way, their names erased by art historians to whom the male artist was the norm. MG Oil on canvas, 73r 62 cm Presented by Oscar II, 1871 Nationalmuseum, NM 1120 34 I 35
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 1669) The Kitchen Maid, 1651 Ever since it came to Sweden in the late 17th century, The Kitchen Maid, with its lively portrayal of the girl in the window, has been regarded as a masterpiece by Rembrandt. Around 1650 he produced a series of similar genre paintings of half-length female figures. It is assumed that in this case the artist was depicting someone he knew well, given the highly personal characterisation of the figure. The painting is executed with broad brushstrokes and sharp contrasts of light and shadow. The warm red of the jacket contrasts harmoniously with the white blouse and the dark background. CF Oil on canvas, 78r 63 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 (Gustav III 1792) Nationalmuseum, NM 584 36 I 37
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 1669). Circle of St Anastasius, probably painted in the period 1631 1650 In a vaulted room, an old man sits at a table reading. The subject has been interpreted as St Anastasius one of the church fathers in his study. From the right, daylight pours in through the window, with a fainter light coming through the doorway to the left. The chiaroscuro of the room and the interplay of different light sources are highly reminiscent of Rembrandt s art. This painting was once regarded as one of his masterpieces, but is now considered the work of another artist. MA Oil on wood, 60r 48 cm Queen Lovisa Ulrika s Collection 1760. Transferred to the Nationalmuseum 1866 Nationalmuseum, NM 579 38 I 39
Constantin Verhout (active 1638 1667) The Sleeping Student, 1663 A student has fallen asleep in a chair. On the table are gloves, writing materials and books. The focus is on the pile of books, with its intricate play of light and shadow that creates a tension in the picture. The painting has been interpreted as conveying a moral message about the importance of making proper use of one s time. But when it was brought to attention in the major Rembrandt exhibition in 1992, interest in the work was also prompted by associations with a modern aesthetic the arrangement of piled-up books recalled a stylised idiom akin to modernism. MA Oil on wood, 38r 31 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 Nationalmuseum, NM 677 40 I 41
Jean Antoine Watteau (1684 1721) The Love Lesson, c. 1717 Seated before the man with a guitar is an elegant party in a leafy parkland. Silk dresses in blue, green and yellow contrast with the dark vegetation. Here and there are the heads of roses the flower of love picked by the woman by the rose bush. Despite his short life, Watteau was to be one of the most influential French artists of the 18th century. The Love Lesson is typical of the genre he created the fête galante with its mixture of melancholy moods and amorous undertones. MA Oil on wood, 44r 61 cm Purchased 1953, with contributions from the Friends of the Nationalmuseum and a national subscription Nationalmuseum, NM 5015 42 I 43
Nicolas Lancret (1690 1743) The Swing, c. 1728 Lancret s speciality was playful scenes showing well-dressed companies from the social elite of the day enjoying themselves. It was a type of subject launched by Watteau in the early 18th century, known as the fête galante the courtship party. Lancret had been a pupil of Watteau and continued the tradition after his master s death. His paintings are always elegant, but often without the dreamlike, melancholy atmosphere that pervades Watteau s pictorial world. This painting was bought by Carl Gustaf Tessin in Paris in 1729. MA Oil on canvas, 37r 47 cm Nationalmuseum, NM 843 44 I 45
Tureen with cover from Count von Brühl s Swan Service, porcelain Meissen c. 1737 1741, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706 1775) This tureen was part of a service made up of some 2,200 pieces, commissioned by the director of the Meissen porcelain factory, Heinrich von Brühl, and designed by the factory s master modeller Johann Joachim Kändler. The service is decorated with the arms of the commissioner, aquatic and marine motifs, and mythological figures linked to water: Neptune, Amphitrite, Tritons and mermaids. Count von Brühl s Swan Service is still regarded as one of the most extravagant masterpieces ever created in porcelain. AB Height 49 cm Acquired by exchange Nationalmuseum, NMK 106/1962 46 I 47
François Boucher (1703 1770) The Triumph of Venus, 1740 The goddess of love has just been born out of the foam of the sea and sits triumphant in a seashell, surrounded by Tritons, naiads and amorini. Waves, deities, fish and fabrics create a swirling movement in the picture. With its light palette, energetic composition and erotic content, this painting combines all the features generally associated with the Rococo visual world. Boucher s famous painting was first shown at the Paris Salon of 1740 and was brought to Sweden by Carl Gustaf Tessin the following year. MA Oil on canvas, 130r 162 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 Nationalmuseum, NM 770 48 I 49
The Grill Family Christening Basin, ewer with basin, silver, cast, handraised and chased Hallmarks of Johan Collin, master in Stockholm 1737 1759, date mark for 1745. Designed and probably made by Christian Precht (1706 1779) The Grill Family Christening Basin is perhaps the most outstanding example of Swedish Rococo silver to survive to the present day. Its maker, Christian Precht, trained on the continent, but never belonged to the guild and was therefore not entitled to hallmark his products. However, drawings and archival records allow us to identify his very high-quality work. Precht supplied silver to the court, but these objects have not survived, having been melted down when they became unfashionable. AB Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum, NMK 110A + 110B/2006 50 I 51
Claude Michel, known as Clodion (1738 1814) Satyr and Nymph, 1780s Two attendants of the wine god Bacchus a satyr and a bacchante are kissing, closely intertwined on a tree stump. The satyr has a goat s legs and ears, and on the ground are his attributes the thyrsus, grapes, tambourine and flute. Everything is carved with detailed precision. The sculptor Clodion specialised in small terracotta sculptures of this kind, often on erotic subjects and always executed with great technical finesse. His sculptures are very representative of the Rococo style and were much esteemed among collectors as early as the 18th century. The sculpture was aquired for the Nationalmuseum on 2011. LH Terracotta, height 56.4 cm Purchased 2011, Sophia Giesecke Fund Nationalmuseum, NMSk 2346 52 I 53
Chair, hand-carved, gilt, upholstered seat and back Made for the Royal Palace in Stockholm, c. 1754. Design attributed to Carl Hårleman (1700 1753) When the royal family moved into Stockholm s Royal Palace in 1754, large quantities of furniture were commissioned. In the strict hierarchy that prevailed at court, the design of seat furniture was not something that was left to chance. The king and queen, Adolf Frederick and Lovisa Ulrika, were provided with gilt armchairs, with high-quality carving. Their children sat on gilded chairs without arms, with similar carving to those of their royal parents. Other guests were given simpler, yellowpainted chairs. AB Height 101 cm Purchased 2013, Barbro Osher Fund Nationalmuseum, NMK 104/2013 54 I 55
Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744 1818) Still Life with Brioche, Fruit and Vegetables, 1775 A glass bowl, a brioche, a basket of peaches and a bunch of horseradishes have been arranged against a dark background on a cracked marble slab. The refined simplicity of the picture is typical of Anne Vallayer-Coster one of the most successful women artists of 18th-century France. The still-life painting of Chardin, which dominated the first half of the century, was an important starting point for her art. But Vallayer-Coster developed a style of her own, with freer brushwork and a more nuanced palette. MA Oil on canvas, 45.5r 55 cm Purchased 1995, Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 6937 56 I 57
Luis Melendez (1716 1780) Basket of Wild Strawberries in a Landscape, c. 1770 Luis Melendez abandoned the dark, austere interiors of the older Spanish still-life tradition for the open air. Here, a basket of wild strawberries has been placed next to some strawberry plants on a hillside, some of them silhouetted against the blue sky and lively clouds. The surrounding countryside and Melendez s always accurate representation of berries and plants tell us that this picture was painted during the century of Linnaeus. In Madrid, too, a new feeling for nature was emerging in the 18th century. MA Oil on canvas, 36.5r 59.5 cm Purchased 1992, Sophia Giesecke Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 6869 58 I 59
Alexander Roslin (1718 1793) The Artist with his Wife Marie Suzanne Giroust Portraying Henrik Wilhelm Peill, 1767 The successful Swedish portrait painter Alexander Roslin was active in Paris and came to hold a unique position on the international art scene of the 18th century. It was in the French capital that he met his future wife, the portraitist Marie Suzanne Giroust, and it was there he made the acquaintance of his compatriot Henrik Wilhelm Peill. This painting intricately unites the three the artist has depicted himself alongside his wife, who is working on a portrait of Peill. The work was acquired by the Nationalmuseum in 2013. MA Oil on canvas, 131r 98.5 cm Purchased 2013, the Friends of the Nationalmuseum and the Sophia Giesecke, Axel Hirsch, and Denise and Stefan Persson Funds Nationalmuseum, NM 7141 60 I 61
Urn with cover, faience Signed Rörstrand 25/6 1765 In 1726 the Rörstrand porcelain factory was built in Stockholm. The aim was to make true (hard-paste) porcelain, though this would not be achieved until the 19th century. In the 18th century, the factory produced faience wares instead, drawing its models chiefly from Holland, Germany and France. In time, Rörstrand found a style of its own, as faience as a material was well suited to the rather restrained forms of Swedish Rococo. The urn shown here is a good example of this idiom. AB Height 35 cm, width 23 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum, NMK 45/1926 62 I 63
Punchbowl with cover, faience Signed Marieberg, Ehrenreich s period (1760 1766) The Marieberg porcelain factory was established in Stockholm in 1760. Like its competitor Rörstrand, it set out to produce true porcelain, an aim it in fact achieved. The porcelain it manufactured, however, was both expensive and of poor quality, and could therefore never compete with imports from the East Indies and other parts of Europe. Marieberg faience, by contrast, was of a very high quality, able to compare, both technically and artistically, with the best produced on the continent. AB Height 28 cm, length 31 cm Purchased 1885 Nationalmuseum, NMK 2384/1885 64 I 65
Punchbowl, porcelain. Sèvres 1777, decorated by Denis Levé Presented to Gustav III by Louis XVI, 1784 In many countries of Europe in the 18th century, porcelain production became a matter of royal prestige. In Paris, Berlin, St Petersburg, Copenhagen and other cities, factories were run under royal auspices. Many of the pieces produced were sent as diplomatic gifts to foreign courts or rulers. This richly gilded punchbowl with chinoiserie decoration was presented by the French king Louis XVI to Gustav III during the latter s visit to Paris in 1784 on his way home from a tour of Italy. AB Height 15 cm, diam. 35.5 cm Collection of Charles XV Nationalmuseum, NMK CXV 545 66 I 67
Johan Tobias Sergel (1740 1814) The Faun, 1774 A faun was a creature of ancient mythology, a shepherd figure that was part human, part goat. In ecstatic intoxication, the fauns followed the wine god Bacchus. In Sergel s sculpture there is nothing at first glance to suggest that this is such a creature. The human body is realistically portrayed, but at the base of the spine a small goat s tail can be seen. The Faun was the work that brought Sergel his breakthrough, and was carved when he was in Rome. It was made in two copies, of which this one became part of Gustav III s collection. LH Marble, 83.5 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 (Gustav III 1792) Nationalmuseum, NMSk 357 68 I 69
Elias Martin (1739 1818) Landscape with Spruce, c. 1780 A large spruce leans dramatically into the picture, pointing up to the rocky peaks in the background. In the sky, the sun breaks through the veils of mist and dark clouds. With this dramatic light, the artist is seeking to capture the power of the wild, rocky landscape. After twelve years in England, Elias Martin returned to Sweden in 1780. This painting dates from that time and reflects the influence of contemporary British landscape art, with its strong emerging interest in untamed nature. MA Oil on canvas, 115r 89 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, with a contribution from Bengt Bernström, 1950 Nationalmuseum, NM 4629 70 I 71
Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755 1842) Portrait of a Young Lady as Flora, 1811 It became common in the 18th century for women to have their portraits painted in a variety of roles as a shepherdess or a mythological figure. This woman appears as Flora, the goddess of vegetation and fertility. She wears a costume, inspired by antiquity, that leaves one breast bare. In earlier times, bare breasts could symbolise maternity, but here there is more of an erotic overtone. The portrait was painted by Élisabeth Louise Vigée- Lebrun, one of France s leading portraitists before, during and after the French Revolution. MA Oil on canvas, 72r 60 cm Presented by the heirs of Ernst Davidsson 1919 Nationalmuseum, NM 2187 72 I 73
Memorial cup with cover, silver, hand-raised and chased Made by Pehr Zethelius, Stockholm, 1783 In connection with funerals in the 18th century, the priest and pall-bearers were often presented with a gift, such as a spoon. In royal contexts, it became a tradition for the bishop conducting the service to be given a covered cup. This memorial cup in silver was commissioned by Gustav III for the funeral of his mother, Queen Lovisa Ulrika, and was unknown to scholars until it was acquired by the Nationalmuseum in 2012. The Museum previously had a cup from the funeral of Frederick I in its collections. AB Height 36 cm, diam. 18.4 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, Barbro and Henry Montgomery Fund Nationalmuseum, NMK 36/2012 74 I 75
Urn Maelstrom V, 3D-printed nylon, mineral coating Designed and produced in 2011 by Michael Eden (b. 1955) Modern technology gives designers completely new tools for their creativity. Using three-dimensional printing, it is possible to achieve shapes that cannot be fashioned by hand. Since 2008, ceramic artist Michael Eden has been designing objects for 3D printing. His design and the technology he uses are entirely contemporary, but the classical heritage is also clear, with references to ancient urns and 18th-century English ceramics from Wedgwood. AB Height 30 cm, diam. 16 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, Bengt Julin Fund Nationalmuseum, NMK 3/2013 76 I 77
Urn with cover, Blyberg porphyry, ormolu and patinated bronze Älvdalen Porphyry Works and France (bronze mounts), c. 1800 Porphyry is a hard, not easily worked igneous rock, much sought after ever since antiquity. In Sweden, objects began to be manufactured from it in the 1780s. The Älvdalen Porphyry Works, founded in 1788, had a wideranging output, including urns, table tops, butter dishes and clock cases. The porphyry was often fitted with ormolu (gilt bronze) mounts, both Swedish-made and foreign. In the reign of Charles XIV (Karl Johan), when the works was owned by the king, many porphyry objects were presented as diplomatic gifts. AB Height 63 cm Presented by Hilda Seippel Nationalmuseum, NMK 26/1907 78 I 79
Camille Corot (1796 1875) The Red Rocks at Cività Castellana, c. 1827 In the 1820s Corot visited Italy to study the classical landscape tradition. But he did not confine his attention to the old masters. In the Sabine Hills north of Rome, he made numerous studies of the actual countryside. It was here that he produced his paintings of red sandstone cliffs, the Rocce Rosse, near the village of Cività Castellana. Corot s Italian sketches are early examples of the plein-air painting that would have a decisive influence on French 19th-century landscape art. MA Oil on canvas, 36r 51 cm Purchased 1917 Nationalmuseum, NM 2060 80 I 81
Christen Købke (1810 1848) Mrs Th. Petersen, née Roepstorff, 1833 Christen Købke was one of the leading artists of what is known as Denmark s Golden Age, equally successful as a portraitist and a landscape painter. This rendering of Mrs Petersen is a good illustration of his unique ability to create a strong presence in the gaze of his subject. Another characteristic of Købke, and of Danish Golden Age painters generally, was the very precise manner in which they painted. One such detail, which reinforces the impression of liveliness in this portrait, is the few stray hairs, simply painted, protruding from the carefully arranged coiffure. CJO Oil on canvas, 40r 31 cm Purchased 1921 Nationalmuseum, NM 2345 82 I 83
Johan Gustaf Sandberg (1782 1854) King Gustav Vasa Addressing Men from Dalarna in Mora, 1836 Outside the church in Mora, Gustav Vasa urges the peasantry to rebel against the Danes. The year is 1520, and a new Sweden is about to emerge. When Sandberg painted the scene three hundred years later, Gustav Vasa was regarded as a national hero. History painting gained a very prestigious place in the visual art of the 19th century. Sandberg also painted the Mora scene as a large fresco in the Vasa Chapel of Uppsala Cathedral. The image appears in the book 1001 Paintings You Must See before You Die (2011). MA Oil on canvas, 48.5r 73.5 cm Presented by Karl Arfvedsson 1926 Nationalmuseum, NM 2451 84 I 85
Joseph Mallard William Turner (1775 1851) Seascape, 1840s On an agitated sea, we can make out people, boats and sails. The shifting colours and lights bring out the haze, the winter sun through the clouds and the powerful swell of the waves. This is one of a series of atmospheric coastal scenes Turner painted in the 1840s. Despite his position as one of the leading figures of British art, this work has rarely been shown. But it is an extraordinary example of Turner s technique, which already in his lifetime was aptly described as airy visions painted with tinted steam. MA Oil on paper, 24.5r 32 cm Presented by Mr and Mrs Pekka Ulander through the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 1960 Nationalmuseum, NM 5526 86 I 87
Eugène Delacroix (1791 1824) The Lion Hunt, 1855 or 1856 Hunting scenes and fighting animals are recurring themes in Delacroix s work. This painting is part of a lion hunt series he produced in the 1850s, reflecting the contemporary fascination with the countries of North Africa. On a visit to Morocco in the 1830s, Delacroix had studied and made sketches of the landscape, horses and hunters on horseback themes that were later woven into his paintings of lion hunts. These dramatic scenes, with their energetic compositions and warm hues, convey the new aesthetic ideals of the time. MA Oil on canvas, 56.5r 73.5 cm Presented by Grace and Philip Sandblom 1970 Nationalmuseum, NM 6350 88 I 89
Rosa Bonheur (1822 1899) Wild Cat, 1850 Rosa Bonheur was one of the most celebrated animal painters of her time. This wild cat is a good example of her realistic portrayals of animals. Bonheur was genuinely interested in the creatures she depicted. As well as a large number of dogs, cage birds and cats, she kept an otter, mouflons and lions. Bonheur s choice of subjects required her to frequent places where long skirts were impractical. In 1857, the police granted her permission to wear trousers in public. MA Oil on canvas, 46r 56 cm Presented by Arvid Kellgren through the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 1932 Nationalmuseum, NM 2911 90 I 91
Micromosaic, glass, depicting St Peter s Square, Rome Papal workshops, Rome, c. 1870 Micromosaic is made from thin rods of differently coloured glass, combined to form an image. The technique became a speciality of Roman craftsmen in the later 18th century and the whole of the 19th. Smaller objects were mounted as jewellery, but larger pieces such as table tops and reproductions of paintings were also made. The Vatican City had its own workshops, and the popes often used micromosaics as diplomatic gifts. AB 40r 62 cm Given by Pius IX to the Dowager Queen Josefina 1875, presented by her estate to the Nationalmuseum 1877 Nationalmuseum, NMK 348 92 I 93
Amalia Lindegren (1814 1891) Breakfast, 1866 This little girl with her bowl of gruel has also set out breakfast for her doll. The silver spoon in her hand tells us this is a well-to-do home. The picture expresses the contemporary middle-class ideal of childhood one of innocence and sentimentality. Amalia Lindegren was a much appreciated artist in her lifetime, and several of her genre pictures were acquired for the new Nationalmuseum. This one was bought in 1866, the year the Museum opened. The many reproductions of her paintings testify to the great popularity she enjoyed in her day. MA Oil on canvas, 82r 69 cm Purchased 1866 Nationalmuseum, NM 993 94 I 95
Amanda Sidvall (1844 1892) Self-Portrait, 1870 1871 Amanda Sidvall was one of the first 18 students in the Women s Department when the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts formally opened its doors to women in 1864. In 1874 she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Académie Julian. Sidvall received good reviews in her lifetime and became an established artist. At the Paris Salon of 1877, two of her paintings were sold to the French state. This self-portrait in a hat with a blue silk bow was painted while she was still a student at the Stockholm Academy. AD Oil on canvas, 64r 53.5 cm Presented by Sven Sidvall through the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 1920 Nationalmuseum, NM 2262 96 I 97
Urn with cover, steel, gilded, etched and blued Signed C. Hj. Norrström 1893 (Carl Hjalmar Norrström, 1853 1924) Hjalmar Norrström was born in Eskilstuna, a town with a long tradition of steelmaking. He trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and in Paris. His best-known work consists of objects made from etched and polished steel, a material previously used mostly for weapons. This urn is designed in a classical idiom, with decoration representing the Greek goddess Demeter and her Roman counterpart Ceres, patroness of agriculture and the harvest. AB Height 133 cm, width 54 cm Purchased 1894 Nationalmuseum, NMK 21/1894 98 I 99
Hugo Salmson (1843 1894) Portrait of a Young Girl, c. 1880 Hugo Salmson is an almost forgotten artist today, but in the 19th century he was highly successful, known among other things for his considerable technical ability. This girl in a chair is painted with a skill that bears comparison with the more celebrated names of 19th-century art. Salmson was sometimes criticised for a stiffness in his images, but that is scarcely the case here. The technical precision of the painting, combined with the girl s defiant look, overshadows the admittedly rather arranged character of the portrait. CJO Oil on wood, 35r 27 cm Purchased 2008, Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 7048 100 I 101
Johan Krouthén (1858 1932) View of a Garden, Linköping, 1887 1888 Nowadays, Johan Krouthén is often associated with the many paintings of apple trees in blossom and red wooden houses that he produced in the later part of his career. This is an early work, showing a young family amongst the fresh greenery of a garden in Linköping. Particularly striking is the meticulous attention to detail, combined with the skilfully captured overall atmospheric effect that the plein-air painting of the 1880s sought to achieve. The picture was acquired for the Nationalmuseum in 2011. CJO Oil on canvas, 69r 95 cm Purchased 2011, Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 7080 102 I 103
Anshelm Schultzberg (1862 1945) Demolishing the Old Orphanage, Stockholm, 1886 In his poem The Esplanade System, from 1883, August Strindberg describes how a modern Stockholm was emerging at that time, with old houses being torn down for light and air. Schultzberg s painting is a commentary on the same process. With razor-sharp realism he records the demolition of the old orphanage, meticulously capturing the early spring light, the many nuances of the gravel and rocks, and the clouds of dust. The subject of the painting is the gap left by the building, or rather, the light and air in this empty space. MA Oil on canvas, 98r 120 cm Purchased 1938 Nationalmuseum, NM 3285 104 I 105
Bruno Liljefors (1860 1939) Cat in a Summer Meadow, 1887 The Nationalmuseum s acquisition of Cat in a Summer Meadow means that one of Bruno Liljefors s most ambitious works can now be recreated and experienced as the artist intended. The painting has been united here with Nestlings of Red- Backed Shrike, which was already in the Museum s collection. Originally the two belonged together, in a common frame. They have now been reunited, moreover, with the other four paintings that also formed part of the original whole Four Bird Studies in a Single Frame (see overleaf) In this recreated context, Nestlings appears in a new light seeing it alongside the cat motif, we realise that Liljefors composed the paintings together, as they are so well balanced in terms of both form and colour. CJO Oil on canvas, 61r 76 cm Purchased 2013, Sophia Giesecke Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 7128 106 I 107
Bruno Liljefors (1860 1939) Four Bird Studies, 1887 Bruno Liljefors (1860 1939) Cat in a Summer Meadow and Nestlings of Red-Backed Shrike, 1887 Oil on canvas, 61r 76 cm Purchased 2013, Sophia Giesecke Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 7128 Oil on canvas and wood, 99r 166 cm (frame) Purchased 1992, Axel Hirsch Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 6873 Oil on canvas, 60.5r 46 cm Purchased 1992, Axel Hirsch Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 6874 108 I 109
Räv (Fox), chamotte stoneware with lead glaze Designed and made in 2007 by Frida Fjellman (b. 1971) Frida Fjellman takes a great interest in the anatomy of the animals she depicts, researching it thoroughly before starting work on her sculptures. Her fox is a carefully crafted representation, faithful to nature. She sees the animal she has portrayed as an observer, sitting watching and monitoring its surroundings, or as Fjellman herself puts it: It s a fox, pure and simple, made with honest intent and without irony. AB Height 65.5 cm, width 32 cm, depth 60 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, Bengt Julin Fund Nationalmuseum, NMK 2/2008 110 I 110 111
Älgradio (Elk or Moose Radio), glazed ceramic, built-in radio Designed and made by Per B. Sundberg (b. 1964) The late 1990s saw growing criticism of the then prevailing, internationally acclaimed stylistic ideal of pure, unadorned neo-modernism. The debate about good taste and power gathered momentum. A new generation of designers broke with the notion of function and created more conceptual objects, where the emphasis was on the underlying idea. Per B. Sundberg s Elk Radio is as far removed from functionalism as it is possible to get, and expresses the kind of humour that informs a good deal of concept-driven design. AB Height 36 cm, width 35 cm, depth 29 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, Bengt Julin Fund Nationalmuseum, NMK 188/2000 112 I 113
Olof Arborelius (1842 1915) Lake View at Engelsberg, Västmanland, 1893 The trees and the clouds are reflected in the mirror-like surface of the water. This view of a lake is captured in the clear light of a typical, still Swedish summer s day. Painted in 1893, it was purchased for the Nationalmuseum the following year. Since then this has been one of the Museum s bestloved paintings, its designation by the Swedish Tourist Association in 1935 as the quintessential Picture of Sweden helping to make it famous. Arborelius s painting is also the work in the Museum s collection most often copied by visiting artists and art students. MA Oil on canvas, 81r 120 cm Purchased 1894 Nationalmuseum, NM 1472 114 I 115
Eva Bonnier (1857 1909) Mrs Hanna Marcus, 1886 Hanna Marcus was a relative of some friends of Eva Bonnier s. This portrait was painted on Dalarö, south of Stockholm, where many of the artist s acquaintances spent the summer. It was probably not a commissioned work, but seems to have been done on Bonnier s own initiative as its modest size and intimate character suggest. This is one of the paintings Richard Bergh, artist and director of the Nationalmuseum, acquired for the Museum in 1915 to strengthen its collection of important works from the late 19th century. CJO Oil on cardboard, 24r 19 cm Presented by Betty Piehl through Richard Bergh, 1915 Nationalmuseum, NM 1854 116 I 117
Bertha Wegmann (1847 1926) Woman in Black The Danish artist Bertha Wegmann is known above all for her portraits. Active in Denmark and on the continent, she was exposed to a variety of influences. This woman in profile, dressed in black in front of a patterned curtain, recalls one of the most famous pictures of the period: Whistler s Mother, painted by James Abbott McNeill Whistler in 1871, exhibited in London and Paris, and popularised through prints. This portrait is a new acquisition, bought for the Nationalmuseum in 2012. MA Oil on canvas, 51r 42 cm Purchased 2012, Sara and Johan Emil Graumann Fund Nationalmuseum, NM 7088 118 I 119
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864 1919) Interior, 1898 A solitary woman in a sparsely furnished room is a recurring theme in Hammershøi s pictures. The light comes from the side, and the figure often has her back to the viewer. Clear models for these interiors can be found in 17th-century Holland or early 19thcentury Denmark. But Hammershøi s silent, empty rooms also have an intense, suggestive mood all their own. Most of his interior scenes were painted in his home in Copenhagen, but this one was executed in London. The model is the artist s wife Ida. MA Oil on canvas, 51.5r 46 cm Presented by Karin Manwaring Robertson in memory of her late mother, Florence Löwenadler, 1946 Nationalmuseum, NM 4357 120 I 121
Laurits Andersen Ring (1854 1933) At Breakfast, 1898 Seated at the breakfast table reading the morning paper is the artist s wife, Sigrid Kähler. Light streams in through the open door, and outside we can make out the lush green of summer. The year is 1898 and the Danish artist couple have been married for two years. Above the woman s head, we see a sprig of myrtle an ancient symbol of love. The painting has been compared with Carl Larsson s contemporary Sundborn pictures, but Ring s summer idyll is closer to reality. And the newspaper a copy of Politiken serves as a reminder of the world outside. MA Oil on canvas, 52r 40.5 cm Presented by Karin Manwaring Robertson, England, in memory of her late mother, Florence Löwenadler, 1946 Nationalmuseum, NM 4347 122 I 123
Carl Larsson (1853 1919) Getting Ready for a Game, 1901 This painting shows the artist s wife Karin Larsson preparing for an evening of vira a popular Swedish card game in the 19th century with guests in the couple s home at Sundborn in Dalarna. At the same time, it is a detailed exposition of their ideas on domestic interior design. The subdued lighting is itself a kind of ideal, but is carefully adjusted in the picture to allow every object to be made out. Children were as natural a part of Carl Larsson s pictures as adults, and here Karin is accompanied by two of their daughters. CJO Oil on canvas, 68r 92 cm Presented 1916 Nationalmuseum, NM 1961 124 I 125
Fanny Brate (1861 1940) A Day of Celebration, 1902 Preparations are under way for a name-day party in the drawing room on the artist s family estate of Brategården in Bråfors in the district of Bergslagen. The room features light furnishings and textiles 18th-century furniture is combined with older painted wall hangings and modern window dressing. The table is decorated with meadow flowers and ivy. Brate has above all attracted attention for her domestic interiors from around 1900. A Day of Celebration is her bestknown work, reproduced on everything from postcards to coffee tins. LH Oil on canvas, 88r 110 cm Purchased 1903 Nationalmuseum, NM 1605 126 I 127
Vase with socle, lead-glazed earthenware Rörstrand, made in 1896, designed by Alf Wallander (1862 1914) ugendstil achieved its major breakthrough in Sweden with the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897. Rörstrand had already recruited the artist Alf Wallander in 1895 to renew and modernise its production. Wallander would be one of the leading figures in spreading the new style, and also designed textiles, glass and metal objects in Jugendstil for other clients. This vase was shown at both the Stockholm Exhibition in 1897 and the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900. AB Height 141.5 cm, width 65 cm Purchased 1982 Nationalmuseum, NMK 47/1982 128 I 129
Otto Hesselbom (1848 1913) Summer Night, c. 1900 Hesselbom liked to paint broad, majestic views of mountain and forest landscapes. The silence, stillness and absence of people convey an almost religious feeling for nature. At the same time, there is a patriotic passion to his pictures. Although he often drew his subjects from Dalsland, he wanted to make this particular province a symbol of Sweden as a whole. His most monumental painting was in fact titled Our Country. Hesselbom s visual world is representative of the atmospherically charged painting of fin de siècle Sweden. MA Oil on canvas, 55r 92 cm Bequeathed by Ferdinand and Anna Boberg 1946 Nationalmuseum, NM 4245 130 I 131
Anna Boberg (1864 1935) Northern Lights In the summer of 1901, Anna Boberg paid her first visit to the Lofoten Islands in north-west Norway, where the mountain scenery, northern lights and midnight sun made a deep impression on her. She returned some thirty times, summer and winter, to paint in different lights. In numerous paintings and sketches, Boberg portrayed fishing villages, mountain massifs and atmospheric phenomena like the aurora borealis depicted here. Her paintings from northern Norway met with adverse criticism in Sweden, but attracted positive attention abroad. LH Oil on canvas, 97r 75 cm Bequeathed by Ferdinand and Anna Boberg 1946 Nationalmuseum, NM 4258 132 I 133
Carl Wilhelmson (1866 1928) Churchgoers in a Boat, 1909 Carl Wilhelmson found most of his subjects in his native Bohuslän. His brightly lit scenes portray the province s austere, rocky landscape and hardworking fishing communities with gravity and dignity. This painting shows rowing boats putting out from outside the church in Fiskebäckskil to take churchgoers back home after the Sunday service. The special painting technique and bright, luminous palette reflect influences from Wilhelmson s time in France and artists such as Paul Gauguin. AD Oil on canvas, 185r 196 cm Purchased 1914 Nationalmuseum, NM 1796 134 I 135
Anders Zorn (1860 1920) Omnibus, 1895 or 1892 Anders Zorn s Omnibus was painted during a stay in Paris in the 1890s. Zorn travelled regularly by omnibus from his home in Montmartre, merely to study the passengers. As the bus rolled through the city, the light inside constantly changed. Electric street lights had recently been installed in Paris and the mixture of artificial and natural light created new and unexpected effects, which Zorn tried to capture on canvas. Contemporary critics described Omnibus as ultra-modern. Oil on canvas, 99.5r 66 cm Purchased 1985, with a contribution from the Beijer Foundation Nationalmuseum, NM 6810 136 I 137
Anders Zorn (1860 1920) Midsummer Dance, 1897 In his autobiographical notes, Zorn writes about how the idea for this painting was born: This work was painted in June and part of July [1897] after sunset and I am pleased to have done it. I had just given Morkarlby a new maypole. It was painted red every Midsummer Once it was up, a polska was played and people danced hand-in-hand around the maypole and the yards, in an endless snake of youngsters. Then there was dancing in one of the yards until sunrise. This is what my painting portrays. Oil on canvas, 140r 98 cm Presented by the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, with a contribution from Pontus and Göthilda Fürstenberg, 1903 Nationalmuseum, NM 1603 138 I 139
Carl Fredrik Hill (1849 1911) The Tree and the River III (The Seine at Bois-le-Roi), 1877 Like Ernst Josephson, Carl Fredrik Hill travelled to France with a burning ambition to make his mark as an artist. His encounter with the French countryside in the 1870s resulted in an intense and patient endeavour to capture the specific character of the landscape. He often reworked the same subject in several different versions. A number of variants exist of The Tree and the River, from 1877, this being the third. Here the artist has sought to combine strong daylight with the slightly hazy atmosphere of the landscape. CJO Oil on canvas, 50r 60 cm Presented by friends of art through Richard Bergh, 1915 Nationalmuseum, NM 1863 140 I 141
Ernst Josephson (1851 1907) Portrait of a Lady, 1890s During a stay in France in 1888, Josephson developed a mental illness. He was never to recover. He remained productive as an artist, but the character of his work changed. From the time he fell ill, it was marked by strange visions and an expressive visual language. Because of the visual affinity between the images from his years of illness and more modern directions in art, several artists and writers of the 20th century regarded Josephson as a genius. In particular, his pictorial world accorded with the strong interest in the subconscious then emerging. CJO Oil on canvas, 111r 87 cm Presented by friends of art through Richard Bergh, 1915 Nationalmuseum, NM 3603 142 I 143
August Strindberg (1849 1912) Coastal Landscape II, 1903 August Strindberg only painted landscapes often shores and seascapes from the Stockholm archipelago. He liked to depict stormy seas with foaming waves, but here the water is calm. In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg writes that one should give expression to one s inner feelings and not depict mere sticks and stones. He managed to create something original as both a writer and an artist, but recognition of and real interest in his painting would not come until the 1960s, long after his death. AD Oil on canvas, 76r 55 cm Purchased 1929 Nationalmuseum, NM 2722 144 I 145
Auguste Renoir (1841 1919) La Grenouillère, 1869 La Grenouillère the Frog Pond was a popular destination for outings, close to Paris. The artists Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet spent time there in September 1869, painting the place several times, from different perspectives. These pictures, with their unmixed colours and sketchy brushwork, are regarded as the first fully fledged examples of Impressionist art. The present painting is one of the Nationalmuseum s internationally best-known artworks constantly in demand for exhibitions around the world. MA Oil on canvas, 66.5r 81 cm Presented by an anonymous donor through the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 1924 Nationalmuseum, NM 2425 146 I 147
Berthe Morisot (1841 1895) In the Bois de Boulogne, before 1880 Morisot took part in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, and from that point on was a core member of the group. Contemporary reviewers described her paintings as the very essence of Impressionism. Many critics regarded the group s sketchy style and emphasis on the fleeting moment as decidedly feminine, and therefore saw Morisot s technique as one that was well suited to a woman. This painting was one of twelve by her shown at the Impressionist exhibition of 1880. MA Oil on canvas, 61r 73.5 cm Presented by C. B. Nathorst through the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, 1960 Nationalmuseum, NM 5525 148 I 149
Paul Gauguin (1848 1903) Landscape from Arles, 1888 In October 1888 Gauguin arrived in Arles in the south of France, where Vincent van Gogh was already staying. Throughout the autumn, the two artists lived and worked together. Tension arose and grew between them, leading to the dramatic crisis in which van Gogh cut off part of his ear after a violent quarrel. In his landscape paintings from Arles, Gauguin depicts the shapes of nature as decorative areas of colour, with no emphasis on the depth of the landscape. The decorative whole takes precedence over the illusion of reality. PH Oil on canvas, 72.5r 92 cm Purchased 1911 Nationalmuseum, NM 1735 150 I 151
Paul Cézanne (1839 1906) Still Life with Statuette, 1890s On a table, next to some fruit, is a statuette. But the painting gives few clues as to the surrounding space a fireplace is vaguely suggested in the background, and to the left a window. The painting is executed with light brushstrokes and thinly applied paint, in a manner reminiscent of a watercolour. In several places the lightcoloured ground shines through. The statuette on the table is a plaster cast of a 17th-century sculpture. The cast belonged to the artist and appears in several of his pictures. MA Oil on canvas, 63r 81 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum 1926 Nationalmuseum, NM 2545 152 I 153
Celestial globe, engraved glass, mounted in pewter Signed Orrefors 1929 1930, designed by Edward Hald (1883 1980) Swedish glass achieved major successes at the Paris Exhibition of 1925, including medals for the much-acclaimed engraved glass of Simon Gate and Edward Hald. This celestial globe was made for the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, an event remembered by posterity as marking the breakthrough of functionalism in Sweden. There, engraved glass from Orrefors celebrated its last triumph. In the 1930s, fashions moved towards thicker, coloured glass with optical effects. AB Height 59 cm, diam. 39 cm Presented by Alice Wallenberg Nationalmuseum, NMK 142A/1930 154 I 155
Sculpture, Senapsmonumentet (Monument to Mustard): to free myself of the discomfort of next Wednesday, The day of the armoured corps soldier, tin-glazed ceramic, consisting of 81 parts Produced at the factory of Marcello and Vittoriano Bitossi, Montelupo, 1969, designed by Ettore Sottsass (1917 2007) In 1969 the Nationalmuseum invited Ettore Sottsass to put on an exhibition that came to be known as Landscape for a New Planet. It included his Monument to Mustard, the name alluding to the mustard gas used against defenceless soldiers in the First World War. The exhibition presented an avantgarde design language that would give rise to the postmodernist Memphis group, co-founded by Sottsass in 1981. A reconstruction of the Nationalmuseum display was staged in Maastricht in 2009. AB Height 280 cm Purchased 1969 Nationalmuseum, NMK 28/1969 156 I 157
Sculpture, Sammetsdjungel (Velvet Jungle), padded velvet Signed Agneta Flock 1969, designed by Agneta Flock (b. 1941), made by Laor Sornkaew, Thailand The 1960s saw a renewal of textile art. Traditional pictorial weaving was challenged by new techniques and a freer design. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, Agneta Flock created a number of sculptures in padded velvet, with jungle motifs. According to the artist herself, they were inspired by early memories of tropical vegetation and heat. AB Height 210 cm, width 210 cm Purchased 1969 Nationalmuseum, NMK 64/1969 158 I 159
Abakan, sisal, woven Designed and made by Magdalena Abakanowicz (b. 1930), made in 1969 In the 1960s the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz began to make large, three-dimensional textiles in sisal, calling them Abakans. Her material consisted partly of discarded rope, which she unravelled, dyed and reused. Abakanowicz s textiles are intended to hang free in a room, rather than on a wall in the traditional way. Some contemporary viewers were shocked at her sculptures sexual allusions and similarities to a vagina a motif that has always been surrounded by taboo. The Nationalmuseum s Abakan has not been shown since the 1970s. AB Height c. 380 cm, width 360 cm Purchased 1971 Nationalmuseum, NMK 3/1971 160 I 161
Selfies Selfies
Selfies Now and Then margareta gynning Museums are an important meeting place for discussions about the whole of our visual culture, and not just about what is defined as fine art. Our role is to try to explain complex historical contexts and to deepen our visitors understanding of the age in which we live, when many focus on the surface of things. As part of Highlights: Known and Unknown Art Treasures from Nationalmuseum, the Museum therefore wishes to contribute to the current debate about identity and what are called selfies self-portraits taken at arm s length using the camera of a mobile phone. Drawing on the Museum s collection of portraits, we want to identify parallels between Now and Then and discuss how people have wanted to be seen down the centuries. Is a selfie simply an egocentric facet of contemporary life, or is it first and foremost an expression of our need for mutual recognition and an instrument of social communication? According to relational psychologists, the most basic human drive is for contact we actively engage and create ourselves 164 I 165
by connecting with others. Certainly, we live in a neo-liberal, consumerist culture that is centred on the individual and fosters narcissism, but the search for affirmation is also a search for connection with the collective. From infancy, we understand how crucial it is to establish contact with those closest to us, to interpret our parents facial expressions, and vice versa. Portraits therefore have an unusual ability to touch deep layers of our subconscious, and the encounter with another face can thus give a sense of affirmation that is bound up with the origins of self. Being seen with an affirming gaze is an important part of the forming of our own identity. That is the basis both for the older tradition of portraiture and for the images posted on today s social media. Portraits have a unique quality of oscillating between illusion and reality, in a way not found in other art forms. The viewer encounters both a real face and a sign. It is the oscillation between these states that makes portraits so fascinating for us as observers. Selfies Now and Then focuses on stereotyped visual structures and portrait conventions. The launching of a portrait is largely a matter of power, marketing, and establishing one s place in a social hierarchy, and exactly the same can be said of posting selfies on Facebook or Instagram. Here we explore what these images actually represent in relation to gender, ethnicity, class and age, and what meanings different codes and norms have and have had. The exhibition will include a slide show on body language by the actor Ann Petrén, interacting with our portraits. In parallel with the display, Selfies Now and Then will also be presented on the Nationalmuseum s website. And both in the exhibition and online, our visitors will be invited to engage actively with the project in various ways. 166 I 167
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 1669) Self-Portrait, 1630 What are the characteristics of a selfie? We would argue that it is not, as is now claimed, a completely new visual genre, but one firmly rooted in the Western tradition of the self-portrait. As Rembrandt has done here, artists paint their own portrait by looking at themselves in a mirror. It is a process marked by slowness, depth and introspection, while the modern-day selfie, with its cropped, from-above perspective, seeks to give the impression of being the work of a moment, improvised and laid-back. And yet, both as a pictorial construction and in relation to body language, fashion and social conventions, it recalls the practised pose we adopt when we view ourselves in a bathroom mirror. MG Oil on copper, 15.5r 12 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum 1956 Nationalmuseum, NM 5324 168 I 169
Gustave Courbet (1819 1877) Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl, 1866 This painting is of Joanna Heffernan, who was the model and mistress of both Whistler and Courbet. Female models in the 19th century had low status, being viewed as little more than a commodity and the property of the male artists. When Jo examined herself in the mirror, therefore, it was a vital act, as she was entirely dependent on her appearance to make a living. In the consumer culture of our own day, women are defined by their appearance, as objects, not allowed to age and controlled by their weight. A new study of young people s media behaviour in Sweden shows that girls as young as ten market themselves using manipulated selfies with duck face poses, while boys mostly play computer games and have dynamic but unmoved stone face poses as their physical ideal. MG Oil on canvas, 54r 65 cm Presented by the Friends of the Nationalmuseum 1926 Nationalmuseum, NM 2543 170 I 171
172 I 173 Image of the actress Ann Petrén from her slide show on stereotypes and body language.
Justus van Egmont (1601 1674) Queen Christina as Minerva, 1654 History has seen changing views of gender, but in many of today s selfies we still find gender norms created back in the 19th century. In the 17th century, gender roles were more transformative, as this portrait of Queen Christina of Sweden demonstrates. Christina showed great skill in promoting herself and the expanding major power over which she reigned. Even after her abdication, she marketed herself as Alexandra Regina queen of all Europe, using a gender-transcending symbolic language that broke with the conventions of the day. Here she is portrayed as Minerva, Roman goddess of war and the arts. Christina was presumably what we would now call transsexual, and attempted to change her gender with the help of alchemy. MG Oil on canvas, 114r 87.5 cm Presented by Herman Wrangel Nationalmuseum, Swedish National Portrait Gallery, NMGrh 1853 174 I 175
Gaspar de Crayer (1584 1669) Anne of Austria, c. 1610 Power elites down the ages have always marked their group identity using symbols and external attributes. From the Renaissance to the late 18th century, portraits were important in promoting an aristocratic ideal that is now perceived as androgynous and gender-transcending, but which has its roots in the court culture of Europe. The aristocratic role was a form of social choreography that sought to balance body, movement, expression and costume in a perfect picture of nobility. The extravagant luxury consumption of the time controlled the entire lifestyle of the individual, which had to be geared to his or her place in the social hierarchy. Not being able to live up to what was expected meant a loss of social standing. MG Oil on canvas, 144r 118 cm Transferred from the Royal Museum 1866 (Prague 1648) Nationalmuseum, NM 408 176 I 177
Alexander Roslin (1718 1793) The Lady with the Veil, 1768 This portrait is one of the Nationalmuseum s most popular paintings, but few are aware that it represents a French female artist, Marie Suzanne Giroust, who was married to Alexander Roslin. In the 18th century, theatre was an important part of society life in the cities. Dressing up, disguising oneself and playing a part was a common form of entertainment, just as it is today when role-play games are so popular in social media. The fan which the figure is playing with expresses the seductiveness of a life devoted to enjoyment and pleasure, a characteristic of the elite culture of the period, but also one that is reflected in the consumer aesthetic of our own day. The fan acted as an extension of body language, putting the focus on hands and gestures, whose varying expressions were seen as defining a person s identity. MG Oil on canvas, 65r 54 cm Presented by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, 1945 Nationalmuseum, NM 4098 178 I 179
Eva Bonnier (1857 1909) The Housekeeper, Brita Maria (Mussa) Banck, 1890 Both the modern selfie and the realistic portrait of the 19th century are informed by a desire to capture people in everyday moments in their own environment. The Realists were interested in describing reality. The detailed setting was intended to provide a chain of clues to the character of the person depicted. Eva Bonnier has chosen to paint the family s housekeeper Maria Banck (1830 1906) reading the newspaper, and not in her professional role. She is portrayed as a strong but worn-out woman, and as a person who knows her own mind. This is one of the few portraits in the Nationalmuseum not representing people from different elites. The collections include only a scattering of portraits of non-whites and individuals from working-class backgrounds. MG Oil on canvas, 112r 86 cm Purchased 1990 Nationalmuseum, Swedish National Portrait Gallery, NMGrh 4026 180 I 181
Artist index Abakanowicz, Magdalena 14, 160 161 Andersen Ring, Laurits 122 123 Arborelius, Olof 12, 13, 114 115 Arcimboldo, Guiseppe 26 27 Bergh, Richard 116, 140, 142 Boberg, Anna 13, 130, 132 133 Bonheur, Rosa 90 91 Bonnier, Eva 7, 116 117, 180 181 Bosschaert, Ambrosius the Elder 30 31 Boucher, François 7, 10, 48 49 Brate, Fanny 126 127 Cézanne, Paul 7, 152 153 Chardin, Jean-Siméon 11, 56 Collin, Johan 50 51 Corot, Camille 80 81 Courbet, Gustave 170 171 Cranach, Lucas the Elder 20 21 Crayer, Gaspar de 176 177 Delacroix, Eugène 88 89 Dossi, Dosso 22 23 Eden, Michael 8, 76 77 Egmont, Justus van 174 175 Fjellman, Frida 8, 110 111 Flock, Agneta 158 159 Fontana, Orazio 24 25 Gate, Simon 154 Gauguin, Paul 134, 150 151 Giroust, Marie Suzanne 60, 178 Gogh, Vincent van 150 Hald, Edward 154 155 Hals, Frans 34 Hammershøi, Vilhelm 120 121 Hårleman, Carl 18 19, 54 55 Heem, Jan Davidsz. de 32 33 Hesselbom, Otto 130 131 Hild, Eva 8 Hill, Carl Fredrik 11, 140 141 Josephson, Ernst 10, 11, 140, 142 143 Kändler, Johann Joachim 46 47 Købke, Christen 82 83 Krouthén, Johan 102 103 Kulle, Axel 14 Lancret, Nicolas 44 45 Larsson, Carl 7, 122, 124 125 Larsson, Karin 124 Levé, Denis 66 67 Leyster, Judith 7, 34 35 Liljefors, Bruno 7, 106 109 Lindegren, Amalia 94 95 Martin, Elias 70 71 Melendez, Luis 58 59 Michel, Claude (known as Clodion) 52 53 Momper, Joos de 28 29 Monet, Claude 146 Morandi, Giorgio 11 Morisot, Berthe 7, 148 149 Norrström, Carl Hjalmar 14, 98 99 Precht, Christian 50 51 Raphael 22 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 7, 9, 10, 11, 36 39, 40, 168 169 Renoir, Auguste 7, 146 147 Roslin, Alexander 60 61, 178 179 Salmson, Hugo 100 101 Sandberg, Johan Gustaf 14, 84 85 Schultzberg, Anshelm 104 105 Sergel, Johan Tobias 68 69 Sidvall, Amanda 96 97 Sornkaew, Laor 158 159 Sottsass, Ettore 14, 156 157 Strindberg, August 7, 12, 104, 144 145 Sundberg, Per B. 112 113 Titian 22 Turner, Joseph Mallard William 86 87 Vallayer-Coster, Anne 7, 11, 56 57 Verhout, Constantin 11, 40 41 Vigée-Lebrun, Élisabeth Louise 72 73 Wallander, Alf 128 129 Watteau, Jean Antoine 7, 42 43, 44 Wegmann, Bertha 118 119 Whistler, James Abbott McNeill 118, 170 Wilhelmson, Carl 134 135 Zethelius, Pehr 74 75 Zorn, Anders 7, 136 139 Zuccaro, Taddeo 24 25 182 I 183
Authors of catalogue entries MA AB AD CF MG PH LH ELK CJO Mikael Ahlund Anders Bengtsson Anne Dahlström Carina Fryklund Margareta Gynning Per Hedström Linda Hinners Eva-Lena Karlsson Carl-Johan Olsson Exhibition curators: Mikael Ahlund, Anders Bengtsson (Highlights) and Margareta Gynning (Selfies Now and Then) Exhibition manager: Anneli Carlsson Exhibition coordinator: Lena Granath Exhibition designer: Joakim E. Werning Lighting design: Jan Gouiedo Exhibition technology and installation: The Technical Department of Nationalmuseum, under Lennart Karlsson Chief conservators: Britta Nilsson, Maria Franzon and Nils Ahlner Education manager: Helén Hallgren Archer Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Dagbladet, Fältman & Malmén and Grand Hôtel, Stockholm. This book was published in conjunction with the exhibition Highlights: Famous and Forgotten Art Treasures from Nationalmuseum, 15 May 31 August 2014, at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm Editorial committee: Mikael Ahlund, Ingrid Lindell and Janna Herder Graphic design: BankerWessel Translation: Martin Naylor Publishing: Ingrid Lindell (publications manager), Janna Herder (editor) Photography: Linn Ahlgren, Olle Andersson, Erik Cornelius, Cecilia Heisser, Bodil Karlsson, Åsa Lundén, Sofia Persson and Hans Thorwid Picture editor: Rikard Nordström Paper: Invercote Creato, Arctic Volume Ivory and Rainbow Nationalmuseum, the authors and the owners of the reproduced works Nationalmuseum exhibition catalogue no. 671 ISBN [English edition] 978-91-7100-850-3 ISBN [Swedish edition] 978-91-7100-849-7 Print: Göteborgstryckeriet 2014 Distribution: Nationalmuseum www.nationalmuseum.se http://nationalmuseum.bokorder.se