Johan Niklas Byström och Bengt Erland Fogelberg ‐ Samtidiga svenska skulptörer i Rom

Abstract

Summary Johan Niklas Byström and Bengt Erland Fogelberg: Two Swedish Sculptors in Rome The present article concerns the Swedish sculptors Johan Niklas Byström and Bengt Erland Fogelberg, both of whom worked in Rome during the first half of the 19th century: Byström from 1810 to 1848 and Fogelberg from 1821 to 1854. Research in art history has characterized the relationship between the two sculptors as marked by conflict, both on the artistic level and, above all, on the personal level. In this essay I have shown that while this may have been the case in the initial stages of their acquaintance, any conflict between the two of them eventually dissapated. Instead, Byström and Fogelberg helped one another in different ways. The conflict which indeed existed had its basis in competition over important commissions, certain personal antagonisms, and artistic differences in an age characterized by the choice between Classicism and Romanticism. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that both sculptors took on the same tasks while functioning as central figures in the Swedish artists’ colony in Rome at different points in time. These tasks included helping recently‐arrived countrymen to acclimatize themselves to the new environment, arranging social activities and aiding struggling Swedish artists financially. In other words, as far as this aspect is concerned, there were far more similarities than differences between them. Turning to their work as sculptors we find that their artistic sensibilites and manner of expression were very dissimilar. Byström clothed his sculptures in antique dress while Fogelberg began with antiquity only to transform it and invest his sculptures with a Nordic content and expression. This led to contemporaries and art historians alike categorizing Byström as a Classicist while Fogelberg has been seen as a Romantic. By interpreting their works in this manner, Byström can be said to represent the end of an era in Swedish art while Fogelberg initiated a new epoch. There can remain no doubt that their comtemporaries saw them as opposites. Fogelberg represented something new while Byström represented the past, which led to Fogelberg being showered with honours while Byström was quickly forgotten. An example of their respective fates can be drawn from the decoration and choice of exhibited sculptures in the National Museum in Stockholm, opened in 1866. A portrait of Fogelberg is featured on the facade of the building, and his Nordic gods were centrally placed in the main entrance hall of the museum, while Byström was relegated to a less conspicuous place. This state of affairs has been reinforced by researchers, who have dedicated a large number of studies to the work of Fogelberg, while Byström has in no way received a comparable amount of space.