Nationalmuseum has acquired three landscape studies from Italy in oil by Pierre Henri de Valenciennes and Simon Denis. The works were hastily painted on paper on location, which was a novel approach in the late 18th century. This significant acquisition enables Nationalmuseum to better chart the beginnings of plein air painting in the 19th century.
Nationalmuseum has added several artefacts made from Swedish porphyry to its collection. The museum recently purchased a pair of magnificent Medici-style vases with Swedish royal provenance at auction in the United States. In addition, the museum has acquired a table clock in granitell and an interesting specimen collection of various types of Swedish porphyry.
During Stockholm Design Week 2017, an exhibition by and about Finnish interior designer Eero Aarnio will open at Nationalmuseum Design. Aarnio is one of the best-known figures internationally in the history of modern Finnish design. He made his name in the 1960s with his experimental designs and his futuristic reinforced plastic chairs.
Nationalmuseum has added no fewer than five works by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg to its Danish art collection. Each of the works represents a different segment of Eckersberg’s artistic career: from his student years in Paris, via his artistic rebirth in Paris and Rome, to his firmly established but never stagnant later life in Copenhagen.
Jewellery artist Märta Mattsson gets the Young Applied Artists award for her imaginative work taking diverse historical traditions in art jewellery to new dimensions. The award of SEK 100,000 from the Bengt Julin Fund, administered by the Friends of Nationalmuseum, is given out biennially. The ceremony will take place on 14 November at Nationalmuseum Design.
The latest edition of the Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is now available. The academic journal in digital format is published annually in English by Nationalmuseum, free to read, download and share. This year’s edition, Volume 22, contains both scientific articles and information about the museum’s acquisitions during 2015.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a sculpted portrait in terracotta created in 1891 by Ida Matton. The bust depicts a young woman wearing a dress typical of the period, with a high collar and puff sleeves. The slight movement of the head, the model’s relaxed style and her dreamy gaze create the impression of a fleeting, momentary portrait.
Nationalmuseum and the Louvre makes an exhibition about the Swedish count Carl Gustaf Tessin, opening in Paris 20 October. It comprises an exclusive selection of 120 paintings and drawings from Tessin’s own art collection, now owned by Nationalmuseum, that documents how artistic styles and tastes evolved in Paris at the height of the Rococo period.
Nationalmuseum is making 3,000 high-resolution images of its most popular artworks available for free download on Wikimedia Commons. Zoomable images will also be added to the museum’s online database. The digitization project is a major advance in making Nationalmuseum’s collections more accessible.
Light and stillness – Scandinavian art at the turn of the 20th century opens on Saturday 24 September at the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi. The exhibition comprises some of the best examples of Scandinavian painting from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all on loan from Nationalmuseum.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a large, masterfully executed game still life dating from 1684 by the Dutch Baroque painter Jan Weenix. The canvas formerly belonged to the Swedish diplomat and collector Karl Bergsten and has now been reunited with those parts of his extensive art collection previously in the museum’s holdings.
On Friday 2 September, Embodied opens at Nationalmuseum Design, an exhibition of works that challenge the conventional notion of craft. The exhibiting artists share an interest in the corporeal, often related to social issues such as identity, body image, objectification, and power structures.
