Stockholm RW: Art

So, Stockholm it was! Not too cold, a few centigrades below 0, still some snow and temperatures rising and the kindest hosts imaginable! Plan was to head out to museums, be guided around vintage shops of Stockholm and meeting a fellow blogger. But on my first day, when the dancers went off to their classes, I was on the hunt for Kanelbullar. Easy! They are sold everywhere. These delicious cinnamon buns are a Swedish classic. Just my thing: enjoying the local pastries. With a big mug of tea it was my daily Swedish holiday treat!

First art fix: the Nationalmuseum that holds art and design from the 16th-21th century. Another big national collection with many familiar periods and artists. The museum owns  an amazing collections of miniature portraits and the design collection is very good. Midcentury Scandinavian design is famous but ofcourse the story of pretty objects is older. Wandering around the museum, I finally clicked with the idea that Swedisch glass design is famous for a reason. It is so worthwhile seeing art and object in real in a museum. Photographs capture just a part of the essence. Yet, I'll share picutures of the most stunning object I've seen:

Cactus Exhibition, a glass vase desinged by Edward Hald in 1926, produced in 1927 and engraved by Wilhelm Eisert. Detailed info here.  Isn't it the most elegant, accurate, modern and most stunning glass work?

There were several temporary themed exhibitions on show when I visited the museum.  One of them being Light and Darkness, very suitable for midwinter times, with exquisite paintings and lovely lamps electric and pre-electricity. But my heart just skipped a beat when I walked into a room, turned and glanced over this picture by Danish painter Hammershøi.

Sunshine in the Drawing Room III (1903) by Vilhelm Hammershøi

A few years ago I found a book on him at the local library. I never heard of Hammershøi, let alone have seen one of his paintings. I have, since then, a reason to visit Copenhagen. I haven't made it, so the picutre below was my first encounter and I just want to see more. It's not the best of reproductions, but it'll do. The last thing to see in a museum is the museum shop. I noticed a few postcards with works of Hammershøi. Aaargh, had I missed them? I had to ask about those and it seemed they were not on display. Meh... Anyhoo, as a fan, I find myself in good company…


Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershoi (Taster) from ELEANOR YULE on Vimeo.

Another exhibition I like to mention was Pride and Prejudice, about Swedish and French female painters in the 18th and 19th century. Painting ladies, very skilled, but they must have met so many boundaries. Here is an introduction: