The National Museum's new exhibition "Romanticism – A Way of Seeing" deals with the period in the 19th century known as Romanticism, but rather with Romanticism as a way of seeing than as an artistic epoch with a beginning and an end.
The museum promises a broad grasp of the period – what it meant and how it affected its contemporaries, but also wants to show that we still encounter many of Romanticism's questions and ideas daily.
Key Works
This is done, among other things, through borrowed key works from Germany, Norway, and France, such as Caspar David Friedrich's "Two Men Contemplating the Moon" and Victor Emil Janssen's famous self-portrait from 1828.
It's a portrait that says everything about Romanticism's artists. Here we have a man who stands slumped and looks us in the eye. His face is expressionless, but by letting us into his studio, he shows that his conviction is everything, says Carl-Johan Olsson.
The exhibition also features several new acquisitions made by the National Museum in recent years, along with contemporary art, some of which are commissioned works. Musician Henning Fürst (formerly a member of The Tough Alliance) has composed parts of the exhibition, which also includes a diorama and a video game that takes the visitor into the world of Romanticism.
Contact with Romanticism
Showing works by contemporary artists such as Ola Billgren, Lena Cronqvist, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Karin Mamma Andersson alongside Romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich, Johan Christian Dahl, and Knud Baade is a way to show how Romanticism lives on in art today.
Many artists work with the same starting point as the Romantics in the 1820s, and by looking at the present, it's possible to get in touch with Romanticism. It's also about opening our eyes to what we take for granted, says Olsson.
Now the National Museum hopes that the younger audience will also find their way to the exhibition.
Romanticism's visual world is present in so much that we're used to in everyday life – children's books, video games, films, says Carl Johan Olsson.
What do you hope visitors will feel when they leave here?
That this is art that opens your eyes, that can make life richer and more meaningful. It makes you make the connection between art and your own surroundings – to perhaps see the beauty you haven't noticed.
"Romanticism – A Way of Seeing" can be seen between September 26 and January 5.
Romantic art is a term for a broad and diverse movement in art around 1770–1850. During this time, emphasis was placed on the individual's personal expression and emotions, in contrast to the Enlightenment's trust in reason.
Nature is often reflected as an emotional landscape in the images.
Among the most famous Romantic artists are Caspar David Friedrich, William Turner, John Constable, Eugéne Delacroix, Francisco de Goya, and Thomas Cole.
