Paint
Under the influence of the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm, Swedish painting was long governed by strict rules and a preference for depictions of scenes from popular life, natural landscapes and portraits. From 1870 onwards, artists who rebelled against academicism went abroad to study, notably in the French village of Grez-sur-Loing. Following the example of Karl Nordström, they immersed themselves in the lessons of Impressionism and outdoor painting. On their return to Sweden, they disseminated these modes of representation, which were immediately integrated into the local style. The light of the North lends a singular touch to works that herald Symbolism.
End of the 19th century
Swedish art literally exploded in the last decades of this century. In 1885, artists who had spent time in France formed the Opponenterna (Opponents) movement. Among them were painters Eva Bonnier, August Hagborg, Ernst Josephson, Carl Larsson, Eugène Jansson, Georg Pauli and his wife Hanna Hirsch-Pauli; sculptors Per Hasselberg and Gusten Lindberg. Carl Larsson (1853-1919), from a modest family, settled in Grez-sur-Loing in 1882, where he defined his style and turned to watercolors. It was also in France that he met his wife, whom he made his favorite model. His watercolors give pride of place to the idyllic image of the family.
The landscape painters, members of the Artists' Association, founded the Varberg School in 1890. Inspired by Gauguin, they modernized the genre.
Painter and sculptor Anders Zorn (1860-1920) remains one of Sweden's most popular painters. He won a medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889, and is renowned for his intensely psychologically acute portraits, particularly of crowned heads. His sensual nudes, shown in nature, make a radical break with academic rigor. His realistic painting, Our Daily Bread (1886), is part of the National Museum collection.
Modernism at the beginning of the 20th century was led by painters Sigrid Hjerten, Isaac Grunewald and Birger Simonsson. After a phase of cubist and expressionist inspiration, the mid-twentieth century explored surrealism, combining the influence of Dali with a Scandinavian touch. From 1906, Hilma alf Klint established herself as a pioneer of abstract art, with series born of her interest in spiritualism, alongside academic commissions.
Modern Swedish art can be admired at the National Museum and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
Painters - photographers
From the 1860s onwards, photography developed in Sweden, as in much of Europe. Painters were quick to seize on this new technique and experiment with it, like August Strindberg (1849-1912), whose Celestographies (1894) prefigured abstract expressionism. In this vein, Anders Zorn's outdoor female nudes glorify the emancipation of women in Sweden. The forms and lighting effects of photography inspired a whole generation of painters: Wilhelm von Gegerfelt, Severin Nilson, Axel Lindman, Georg Pauli, Oscar Björck, Gottfrid Kallstenius and Carl Wilhelmson. The practice of photography quickly became commonplace among Swedish painters, who adopted it for memorization purposes. Although it did not yet have the status of art, it enriched painting. For some artists, landscape elements are isolated to become a theme in their own right. Wilhelm von Gegerfelt immortalizes tree trunks as sculptures. Gottfrid Kallstenius and Severin Nilson capture the unreal atmosphere of seascapes.
On the island of Södermalm, the Fotografiska Museet is dedicated to photography. Since its inauguration in 2010 with an exhibition by Annie Leibovitz, it has continued its program of exhibitions and training courses. What sets it apart is that it doesn't present its own collection, but works directly with artists, collections or galleries to develop exhibitions around a central theme.
Outdoor sculpture
Carl Milles (1875-1955), influenced by Rodin, designed the magnificent Orfeus fountain in Stockholm. His garden (Millesgården), full of his sculptural works, can be visited on the island of Lidingö.
Today, sculpture parks offer a unique facet of Swedish art. On a hilltop, A Pile of Art brings together some thirty sculptures scattered between forests and meadows. Stockholm's Moderna Museet is surrounded by a park and a courtyard reserved for Alexander Calder's famous sculptures The Four Elements and Paradise , a collaborative work by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.
Underground street art
The Stockholm metro conceals a veritable museum. The Tourist Information Office has produced a map listing the street art stops along three lines: the blue, the red and the green. Each station has its own theme. On the blue line, at the Kungsträdgärden station, history is reflected underground with a color palette of green, white and red, as well as replicas of palace statues; T-centralen, imagined by artist Per Olof Ultvedt, is covered in a magnificent blue accompanied by flower and leaf motifs to contrast with the bustle of the station; Solna centrum turns into a red and black cavern adorned with frescoes with a socio-political message; Näckrosen station takes us into the world of Swedish cinema.
Fans of street art should head for Malmö. The whole city is an open-air exhibition. This initiative was launched by the ArtScape association, whose aim is to promote public art by changing the perception of the urban landscape. To this end, the first festival was held in 2014. Fifteen artists then set about transforming Malmö, which continues to be enriched by gigantic frescoes as well as sculptures.
Contemporary art
With its presence at major international art events, Sweden continues to encourage the emergence of new talent. Since the 1990s, marked by the recognition of Dan Wolgers in sculpture, Annika von Hausswollf in photography and, later, painters Karin Mamma Andersson and Jockum Nordström, the tradition has continued.
