Nordens konst och tyskland kring sekelskiftet 1900

Abstract

Summary In the literature on late 19th century art in the Northern Countries the question of its ties with Germany and German art has generally been neglected. The period is understood as dominated by Paris — German centers like Düsseldorf, Munich and Berlin according to this opinion represented old fashioned and even obsolete styles and attitudes towards art. This is of course an oversimplified and rather naive view of the art historical situation in Europe around 1900. The traditionally strong economical and cultural links between the Scandinavian countries and Central Europe, the position of German as the first foreign language learnt at school, the attraction caused by the dynamic economical development of Germany after its unification in 1870 and the development of Berlin into a major metropolis could not have been without influence on Scandinavian art. In my paper which was read as an introduction to the symposium I try to outline some of the central problems concerning such connections and the investigation into them. First of all I think it is important to remember not to treat international connections in the field of culture as one way influences but as a matter of mutual exchange; the question is not only what Scandinavian artists may have seen or whom they may have met abroad but also which impact their art or their personality may have had there. It is also useful to remember that receiving influences does not mean playing the passive but the active role of the game. Influence or reception is a matter of looking around, accepting or rejecting, assimilating etc. and not of being marked by an external force. An interesting question which needs further study is the representation of Scandinavian artists at German Exhibitions and their commercial success. Many artists like P.S. Kr⊘yer, A. Zorn or W. Hammersh⊘i, to mention only a few, were shown in Germany almost every year throughout the 1890s and during the first years of the new century, and their works were generally favourably reviewed by the German critics. This however should not be interpreted only as a tribute to the intrinsic qualities of their art, it also has a lot to do with the specific cultural situation in Germany and with the part the idea of Northern culture played in it. As soon as German .museums and private collections gave up their politically determined resistance against French modernism the star of Northern art rapidly faded.