Edvard Munch and the Art of Scandinavia

Edvard Munch and the Art of Scandinavia
A new lecture by Adrian Sumner

Isn’t it amazing how the one Scandinavian artist who could claim to be a household name is Edvard Munch, the poster-boy of 20th Century neurosis, who seems to personify the Universal Angst of Modern Man in his painting ‘The Scream’. So poignant is this image that it is plagiarised, satirised, marketed and merchandised relentlessly, mercilessly, and still is able to retain its power to shock; no mean feat in the age of the World Wide Web, and the tide of ever-deepening horror it and all media seem to carry to us on a daily basis.

While examining in depth the art of Munch, and the debt owed to him by Modernism, this lecture also tours the remarkable, inspirational diversity of Scandinavian Art, especially at the turn of the 19th Century, looking at the mythologies and folk tales revitalised by Axel Gallen Kallela, the spiritual landscapes of Harald Sohlberg and seascapes of Peter Kroyer, the Symbolism of Hugo Simberg and Magnus Enckel, the light-suffused interiors of Wilhelm Hammershoi (‘the Danish Vermeer’), and the poetic realism of Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn. Now they really should be household names.

We also look at the brilliant architecture and design of Alvar Aalto and Eliel Saarinen, the sculpture of Gustav Vigeland, and where the artistic riches of Nordic art may be sought and found.

Date: Wednesday 24 November 2010

Times: 1.30pm

Venue: Grosvenor Museum, Chester