More than century-old history from the inaugural exhibition in 1916 is now on display in Liljevalch’s in Stockholm reminding us of highlights of the art gallery’s history. This year, the engine in Swedish art life celebrates 100 years.
In 1916, the Swedish Artists’ Association achieved the goal of creating an independent art gallery for permanent exhibitions of contemporary art. It all began with the top trio of the time, Carl Larsson, Bruno Liljefors and Anders Zorn, but has always been an art gallery for both art and crafts, internationally and nationally, classics and contemporary.
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The present exhibition is in fact 48 different exhibitions in which we are reminded of the breakthrough of modernists in 1918 and the Association of Swedish Artists’ Exhibition in 1921 with names such as Sigrid Hjertén and Siri Derkert, about the political 1960s with both The Nasty and Erotic Art, about Kjartan Slettemark’s poodle in 1975 and Hilma af Klint’s temple paintings in 1999.
The queues were long for Andy Warhol’s late works in 2004 as well as for Hanna Pauli, Anna Ancher and other female artists of the 1880s who were shown in De drogo to Paris in 1988.
In several exhibitions the home’s interior design and everyday design was noticed over the years starting in the Home Exhibition in 1917, and famous names such as Carl Malmsten, Märta Måås-Fjetterström and Josef Frank have of course been seen at Liljevalch’s.
Visitors to Liljevalch’s have been able to enjoy both the Strindberg exposé August, a djefla exhibition in 2012 and the spectacular fashion vision Utopian Bodies. Fashion Looks Forward in 2015 was named Exhibition of the Year.
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However, the visitor record from 1952 still stands. Mexican art from antiquity to present day was a huge venture that required 12 train carriages for all objects and gained an audience of 212,431 people.
These are just some of the highlights that are being shown in the exhibition which will be displayed through January 16, 2022, in the Bergsten house.
Find out more about Liljevalchs 100 years anniversary here.
The Engine in Swedish Art Life Celebrates 100 Years, is based on a press release from Liljevalch’s.