Tag: sweden

Emil Holmer

Paintings by Emil Holmer from His Show: Mobilization Table

‘Dead Letters’ is the Swedish painter Emil Holmer’s first solo show in Berlin. His Mobilization Table is a sort of mission statement for his approach to painting: the canvas is a frame into which objects are assembled over and against each other, and techniques are hand-made weapons for dissecting materials. Collages of pornographic material meet total abstraction; media swap roles. The paintings are composed like installations from smaller paintings of sculptures, clusters spaced across the canvas, or piled on top of each other.

Julius Kronberg

Julius Kronberg, “David och Saul”, 1885, Oil on Canvas, 298 x 220 cm, National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden

Julius Kronberg received education at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm in the 1860s. A travel scholarship brought him to Paris via Düsseldorf and Copenhagen. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.

Kronberg stayed in München where he continued studying before settling in Rome in 1877. He was a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts between 1895-1898.

Carl Milles

Carl Milles, Poseidon Fountain in Gothenburg, Sweden

Carl Milles was a Swedish sculptor born in 1875 in Lagga outside Uppsala, Sweden. He moved to Paris and studied art, working in Auguste Rodin’s studio, gaining recognition as a sculptor. Milles sculpted the Poseidon statue in Gothenburg, the Gustaf Vasa statue at the Stockholm Nordic Museum, the Orpheus group outside the Stockholm Concert Hall and the Fountain of Faith in Falls Church, Virginia.

In Gothenburg’s main square, Götaplatsen, the imposing  twenty-three foot figure of Poseidon stands proudly atop the fountain. Completed in 1931 by Carl Milles, it has become an icon for Gothenburg.

Poseidon is a fitting figure to watch over the maritime city of Gothenburg. As the Greek god of the sea, he hears sailors’ prayers for calm waters and safe returns. As if to reiterate his position as the master of the waters, Milles sculpted him proudly lifting a large fish and shell toward the heavens.