On Saturday 1 June, the 2013 Portrait of Honour will be unveiled at Gripsholm Castle. The subject this year is Hans Blix, who has been portrayed in bronze by sculptor Peter Linde. Dr Blix achieved worldwide recognition for his work on behalf of the international community as director general of the IAEA and chairman of the UN weapons inspection commission.
Gripsholm Castle reopens on Wednesday 15 May and will be open daily from 10am to 4pm until 30 September. Guided tours of the castle in Swedish and English will be available daily. From 16 June visitors can enjoy Music at Gripsholm, a series of concerts.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a stoneware sculpture by the artist Eva Hild. Entitled Splay 2, the work is typical of the artist’s eccentric designs, featuring large, organic shapes in fine material. Hild’s remarkable designs have achieved international recognition in recent years.
For the duration of the building’s renovation, one of Nationalmuseum’s greatest artworks has been moved into storage from its location on the upper staircase.Carl Larsson’s Midwinter Sacrifice measures almost 90 square metres and has been in the museum’s collections since 1997.
Purchased by Nationalmuseum last year from a British art dealer, The Faithful Friendship is a rare work by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Stouf, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1795. Stouf was a close friend of Johan Tobias Sergel during their student years in Rome more than two decades earlier.
Following a procurement process, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has appointed the London based brand consultancy Jane Wentworth Associates. The project will start in autumn this year setting the direction for the opening of the new Nationalmuseum in 2017.
Nationalmuseum will open its temporary exhibition venue at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts at Fredsgatan 12 in Stockholm with an exhibition entitled Carl Larsson – Friends and Enemies. Focusing on Carl Larsson’s networks and relationships, the exhibition reflects the Swedish art world in the period from 1870 to 1920. In all, about 120 works by Larsson and his contemporaries will be on show.
Nationalmuseum has added a large porcelain lidded urn to its ceramics collection. The urn was designed by Gunnar Nylund, one of the most prominent Scandinavian ceramicists of the 20th century. Although the urn is most definitely a luxury item, it is decorated with images of workers, factories and cityscapes, reflecting the contemporary cult of the machine.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a spectacular miniature by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. One of the most important women artists in late 18th-century France, she was not previously represented in the museum’s collections. The work is interesting on account of the motif alone, depicting a woman, albeit an amateur, in the role of artist.
Nationalmuseum has acquired three important Flemish and Dutch cabinet paintings from the collection of Count Gustaf Adolf Sparre – a landscape by Gijsbrecht Leytens and two genre scenes in smaller format by David Teniers the Younger and Jacob Toorenvliet. The paintings have gilt frames decorated in Gustavian style, with the two latter works bearing cartouches at the top.
Thanks to a generous donation, 10 photographic portraits by Hans Gedda have been added to the Swedish National Portrait Gallery. With his creative interpretations and unexpected manifestations, Gedda adds another dimension to the subjects portrayed, who include Evert Taube, Hans Alfredson, Tage Danielsson, Nils Poppe, Niklas Ek and Sara Lidman.
Last spring, the Swedish government gave the go-ahead for planning work to start on the renovation of Nationalmuseum. Next year, the collections and museum operations will temporarily vacate the building. Members of the public, both in Sweden and abroad, will still have the opportunity to experience the art thanks to collaborations, touring exhibitions and temporary venues.
