In Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, Midsummer is observed through large, festive celebrations. The clear light and long days around the summer solstice and the so-called white nights immerse their landscapes in an entirely unique atmosphere. In the period between 1880 and 1920 – a time in which modern Scandinavian and Finnish art were flourishing – artists developed a new visual idiom which gives expression to the characteristics and temperaments of their homelands. Realism, naturalism, impressionism and symbolism were seen as new developments. Open-air painting demanded that artists see their own time in a manner that was based on reality but nonetheless subjective.
This exhibition offers a broad overview of artistic developments in the lands of the north, presenting works by the most important painters, such as Anna Ancher, Peder Severin Krøyer, Bruno Liljefors, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Helene Schjerfbeck and Christian Skredsvig, among others. The show is also exceptional due to the fact that most of its approximately 70 works come from the exquisite art collection of the Fielmann family. Many of them are being exhibited publicly for the first time.
A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
