In a project about self image and identity, Nationalmuseum has been studying the popular social media phenomena selfies, by comparing them with portraits in the museum’s collections. The result is on show in the exhibition Highlights until 31 August.
Gripsholm Castle reopens on Thursday 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 14 June visitors can enjoy Music at Gripsholm, a series of concerts.
Through a bequest in the will of the late Mrs Peggy Bonnier, Georges Seurat’s study of a pair of legs for the painting Bathers at Asnières (1884) has been donated to Nationalmuseum. The work exemplifies Seurat’s technique of drawing on heavily grained paper with Conté crayons.
From 10 May Slow Art will be on show at the Swedish Institute in Paris. The exhibition puts time and production processes in perspective. An international audience will now have the chance to meet Swedish artisans. The exhibition is produced by Nationalmuseum in Stockholm where it was on show in 2012.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a suite of furniture made in the 1830s and once used in the official residence of the Swedish foreign minister. Fully gilded, and upholstered in French silk, the suite is unusually luxurious by Swedish standards. The closest parallel is the suite that furnishes the Lantern Room at Rosendal Palace.
Nationalmuseum’s exhibition Crossing Borders presents a collection of contemporary photographic portraits. The exhibition opens at Stockholm Arlanda Airport 19 March and is part of a joint project with Swedavia to put art and design on show at airports in Sweden. The portraits on view have all been acquired to the Swedish National Portrait Gallery.
Nationalmuseum has acquired several contemporary photographic portraits of prominent Swedes for the Swedish National Portrait Gallery. The acquisitions include works by Magnus Laupa, Eric Broms and Fredrik Etoall. The portraits will be on show in the Crossing Borders exhibition at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, opening on 19 March, and at Gripsholm Castle this summer.
The Penitent Mary Magdalene has not been on view for a long time due to the painting’s poor condition. Last year thorough conservation work was carried out to remove layers of dirt and discolourations. After 200 hours of work, it is once again possible to enjoy the many exquisite details. The painting will be on view as part of the exhibition The Masters of Darkness until March 30.
The first major exhibition in France of works by Carl Larsson opens at the Petit Palais in Paris on 7 March, with the majority of works on loan from Nationalmuseum. This exhibition is one of the initiatives to keep art from the collections on public view during renovation of the Nationalmuseum building.
Opening on 15 May, the Highlights exhibition will feature a selection of Nationalmuseum’s best-known and most popular works. Artists such as Paul Cézanne, Anders Zorn, Judith Leyster and Antoine Watteau will rub shoulders in the exhibition.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a painting by Nils Forsberg. The subject is an unusual one for this artist: a studio scene featuring his own son. In the foreground we can glimpse a green urn, believed to be identical to the urn by Nils Barck that is now in the museum’s collection.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a pewter-framed mirror designed by Björn Trägårdh in the 1930s when he was employed as a designer at Svenskt Tenn. The absence of any stamps indicates that the piece may be a prototype that never entered production.
