Nordic Art - The Modern Breakthrough 1860-1920

Introduces artists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland

The late 19th and early 20th centuries marked a defining moment in Nordic art. Through more than two hundred paintings, »Nordic Art« tells the story of this important period. In dialogues between Scandinavian culture and other European contemporary art of the time, Nordic artists developed their own distinctive interpretations of realism, impressionism, and symbolism.

Late nineteenth and early twentieth century Nordic art reflects a search for national identity and social transformation. The cozy domestic landscapes of Carl Larsson and Edvard Munch’s dark works are supplemented by those of national icons like Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Vilhelm Hammershøi. Nordic Art describes both the fertile domestic environment in Nordic countries introducing artists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland whose contributions, though crucial, may be less familiar to international audiences. Nordic Art offers the first comprehensive view of this critical period of cultural development in the Nordic countries and the extraordinary art that it produced, which in its turn influenced other European art.