Liljevalchs konsthall (
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
for "Liljevalch's Art Gallery") is an
art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
located on the
Djurgården
Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...
island in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Designed by architect
Carl Bergsten
Carl Gustaf Bergsten (10 May 1879 in Norrköping - 22 April 1935 in Stockholm) was a Swedish architect. He graduated in 1901 from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and three years later from the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stock ...
(1879–1935) and inaugurated in March 1916, it is today owned by the
City of Stockholm
Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm ( sv, Stockholms kommun or ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, ma ...
.
Behind the entrance on the north-western corner is a small vestibule. To the right of the latter is a large sculpture hall leading to two large galleries with
skylight
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
History
Open ...
s intended for paintings, flanked by series of smaller exhibition spaces. The eastern end of the building has a large-scale portico facing a small park surrounded by the large windows of a small restaurant.
[Eriksson]
![Liljevalchs konsthall 1950](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Liljevalchs_konsthall_1950.jpg)
One of the most appreciated exhibition spaces in Sweden, Liljevalch is renowned for its well-proportioned spaces in a range of sizes and its restaurant ''Blå porten'' ("Blue Gate"). The concrete pillars and beams forming the structural framework of the building are left exposed as
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s and
mouldings in the façade with brick walls and a horizontal row of windows filling the spaces between them. In front of and above the main entrance is a sculpture and a relief by
Carl Milles
Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedish sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the Gustaf Vasa statu ...
.
[Johansson]
History
![Liljevalchs_konsthall_int_1950](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Liljevalchs_konsthall_int_1950.jpg)
Bergsten had attempted a career as an avant-gardist architect throughout the early 20th century, influenced by Austrian
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
architect
Otto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...
. After a trip through continental Europe in 1907, he instead became inspired by traditional architecture, especially in Turkey and Denmark. When Bergsten won the competition for the art gallery in 1913, he had thus given up his early experimental style to embrace a
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
which he combined with his preference for reduced volumes and modern concrete construction techniques. Bergsten always had a constructive approach to architecture and at Liljevalch his design used basic functional demands as a departure point to create series of multi-purpose spaces. Several details, including the large stairs of the sculpture hall, suggest an inspiration from
Heinrich Tessenow
Heinrich Tessenow (7 April 1876 – 1 November 1950) was a German architect, professor, and urban planner active in the Weimar era.
Biography
Tessenow is considered together with Hans Poelzig, Bruno Taut, Peter Behrens, Fritz Höger, Ernst ...
's rational Classicism where light is used to emphasis simple sculptural volumes. While the indoor courtyard was also used at this time by
Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg (14 July 1866 – 5 February 1945) was a Swedish architect who is best known for designing Stockholm City Hall.
Biography
Östberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were Carl Östberg and Erika Kindahl. Between 1884 a ...
at the "Blue Hall" in the
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall ( sv, Stockholms stadshus, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands ...
, at Liljevalch Bergsten managed to combine traditional details with the newest concrete construction technique, and the art gallery was thus a forerunner to the modern architecture still to come.
![Liljevalchs konsthall 2007 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Liljevalchs_konsthall_2007_2.jpg)
However, the design was criticised (by August Brunius) for being "too new" and the simplicity was interpreted as a shortage of dignity and monumentality—in short a "slightly careless style applied to a earnest and permanent building". To Brunius, who was open to modern trends but thought they demanded an historical robe to attain the symbolic values architecture was supposed to deliver, Bergsten's reduction in the exterior thus meant a boundary was trespassed; in the interior, however, Brunius was very pleased. Nevertheless, in a modern perspective, Liljevalchs konsthall is interpreted as more timeless than any other contemporary architecture, a structure where modernity and tradition co-exist without conflict or contradiction. The building avoids the "style" of
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
but becomes "classical" by confining itself to simplicity and honesty as a constructive principle.
Liljevalchs konsthall features on the video of the song “Tick Tick Boom” by the Swedish band
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...
. The video directed by Kalle Haglund stars the Hives as giant statues who eventually destroy the museum on the song's final "Boom".
Tick Tick Boom (song)
"Tick Tick Boom" is a single by Swedish rock band The Hives, released in 2007. It is the opening track to '' The Black and White Album'' and is the first single taken from that album. "Tick Tick Boom" was released on 8 October 2007.
The song ...
Notes
References
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External links
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Art museums and galleries in Stockholm
Art museums established in 1916
1916 establishments in Sweden