Ivar kreuger och tändstickspalatset

Abstract

Summary Ivar Kreuger and the Match Palace. This paper deals with the character of the conditions valid for patronage in architecture, and also how the artist and his patron are jointly responsible for a work of art. More precisely Ivar Kreuger's not much recognized role as a favourer of architecture is illustrated. The financier Ivar Kreuger (1880–1932) and the architect Ivar Tengbom (1878–1968) were of about the same age. They both came from provincial families of no great importance and started their truly exceptional careers with studies in technology. Kreuger was like a Renaissance prince, and in the mid‐twenties he accordingly decided to build the extraordinary business palace in Stockholm known as the Match Palace. To build a palace is the archetypical act of an art patron and Tengbom was appointed architect for this important task. In these years a reinterpreta‐tion of the fundamental legacy from antiquity and the Renaissance was strongly desired. The new spirit had already been given artistic form by Tengbom. His remarkable achievements have too long been rated second to the works of S. Lewerentz and E. G. Asplund. Asplund's reputation is now supported by his function as a point of reference in post‐modern architecture. Tengbom was however the far more important stylistic forerunner of mannerist classicism. Already in 1912 Tengbom defined the new style in Stockholms Enskilda Bank Hq. and he kept his leading position all the way to its artistic culmination in the Match Palace. In a few years Kreuger had created a global monopoly in the match industry. Matches were only one branch of a complicated structure of world‐wide financial operations focussed at the Swedish Match Company. The palace was begun in 1926 and was completed in spring 1928. Tengbom put to work a group of architects and outstanding artists: R. Huit, T. Wenner‐holm, G. Cederwall, C. Milles, S. Gate, A. Almquist, R. Lindström, E. Dahlskog, E. Gullberg, A. Munthe, I. Grünewald and C. Malmsten. Many of them were well‐known from the decoration work of Tengbom's Stockholm Concert Hall and from the Paris exhibition in 1925. Kreuger needed symbols for his mission as a patron for mankind. The symbols used refer both to universalism and to a cult of the company. The Prometheus theme is illustrated in the court‐yard pavement as well as in a great fresco by Isaac Grünewald in the session hall. Other works illustrate ‘The five continents worship the fire’ and Carl Milles’ fountain represents Diana. Through an open portico in the rather anonymous facade a horseshoe shaped ‘cour d'honneur’ appears. Tengbom: ‘it is perhaps somewhat unusual to find such a tradition being followed today ... That it was possible in this case was due to the special nature of the premises and also, of course, to the character of their owner’. When leaving the street one enters a world of refinement. The curved session hall through two storeys is decorated by Carl Malmsten, Elsa Gullberg, Ewald Dahlskog and Isaac Grünewald. This hall is the artistic climax of the palace. G. Soloveytchik wrote ‘the ... session hall was a room one not easily forgets’. The palace gave an impression of being deeply personal and as much Kreuger's work as Tengbom's. The visitors were overwhelmed by the silent, distinguished atmosphere. Some also found this atmosphere highly unpleasant. Kreuger's business partners were described as a ‘circle of learned men and diplomats’, and Tengbom was a high‐society person fitting these standards. Kreuger was now at the peak of his career and the greatest moneylender in the world. It is fair to compare him with the financiers of Florence or the Fuggers. Kreuger was also an art collector, although not a great one. His collection counted 455 paintings and drawings, mainly Old Masters and Swedish artists like Zorn and Carl Larsson. Kreuger committed suicide, or was killed, in his apartment in Paris 12 March 1932. Forgeries were reported, resulting in immense losses. Kreuger's private debts were calculated at an incredible 1000000000 Swedish crowns (1932). The psychological and artistic effects on the architect caused by the crash were great. The palace had not been in use more than four years when the bankruptcy was a fact. The industrious Tengbom was paralysed. The architect who had masterfully created the symbol of Kreuger's empire did not produce anything of significance for the next ten years.