information from the Nordic Museum

At a time when few international art exhibitions are travelling to America, the National Nordic Museum presents one of the West Coast’s most important European art exhibitions in 2022
On February 19, the National Nordic Museum will premiere a landmark exhibition from one of Northern Europe’s most important art museums with “From Dawn to Dusk: Nordic Art from Sweden’s Nationalmuseum.” The exhibition’s 56 paintings are by the Nordic region’s leading artists of the late 19th century, including works by Anders Zorn, August Strindberg, Bruno Liljefors, Carl Larsson, Hanna Hirsch-Pauli, Harriet Backer, Nils Kreuger, and Vilhelm Hammershøi, among others.
 
“This is an expansive look at one of the most popular periods in Nordic art with works by Denmark’s, Norway’s and Sweden’s greatest artists,” said Executive Director Eric Nelson. “We are most grateful to the Nationalmuseum for generously lending such extraordinary works.”
 
The exhibition traces the final decades of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century, a period of dramatic development in art of the Nordic countries, through scenes of everyday life, portraits, and landscapes. Young artists tired of the conservative art scene in their respective countries and they travelled abroad, most of them to France and to Paris. Here, they could experience personal freedom and a modern, cosmopolitan art scene. In particular, the women artists encountered much better circumstances in Paris than at home in the Nordic countries. “In comparison to Stockholm, the [late 19th-century] Parisian art world was an endless field of prosperous opportunities, and at the time, Paris was the incontestable art capital of the world. Young artists became increasingly aware of the more liberal art world in Paris, adding fuel to their frustration with the conservative Academies in the North,” said Carl-Johan Olsson, the Nationalmuseum’s Curator of 19th-Century Painting.

“From Dawn to Dusk: Nordic Art from Sweden’s Nationalmuseum” includes 56 paintings by Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish artists held in the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden. It will be on view exclusively at the National Nordic Museum from February 19, 2022, to July 17, 2022, and accompanied by a full slate of exhibition-related lectures, concerts, and art classes.
 
Organized by the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden, and the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, Washington, this exhibition was curated by the Nationalmuseum’s Curator Carl-Johan Olsson. The presentation at the National Nordic Museum—the exclusive North American venue for the exhibition—is coordinated by Leslie Anne Anderson, Director of Collections, Exhibitions, and Programs.

Nordic artists synthesized contemporary ideas, practices, and styles that they encountered in Paris to depict the motifs of their home region. In the century that followed, the Nationalmuseum collected these pictures as exemplars of this history. “These treasured paintings transport visitors to a time when artistic influences from abroad ignited passions, inspired the creation of new pathways for artists to succeed, and ultimately, shaped new national schools of art. Importantly, From Dawn to Dusk reflects current scholarship and shares some recent acquisitions to the Nationalmuseum’s collection that illustrate the profound contributions of Nordic women artists to this revolutionary moment in art history,” said Anderson.
 
The National Nordic Museum’s presentation of From Dawn to Dusk has been made possible by Ann-Charlotte Gavel Adams, Peter and Sophia Ku in honor of Mrs. Viola Evelyn Greathouse, Maria Staaf and William Jones, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Scan Design Foundation, and the Robert Lehman Foundation.