Dreams, melancholy, ecstasy and death. Around the turn of the century 1900, many artists turned their gazes to the shadowy side of life, including spirituality and mysticism. One of them was Olof Sager-Nelson (1868–1896), most famous for his moving portraits from his Paris years in the mid-1890s. His artistic career was abruptly cut short when he died of tuberculosis in Algeria, only 27 years old.
The many portraits in the exhibition, painted by both renowned and less well-known artists, reflect Sager-Nelson’s interest in portraying humanity. For the first time, Sager-Nelson appears as part of an international movement, rather than as an eccentric figure in Swedish art history. This historical and cultural context is investigated further in the exhibition catalogue.
The richly illustrated book contains six in-depth essays by researchers with a special interest in the fin de siècle, and discuss the breaking of gender boundaries, occultism, and the relation between music and painting, among other things.
The project was financed by the Herbert and Karin Jacobsson Foundation, the Letterstedt Society, the City Court Judge and Mrs. Ernst Colliander Foundation for Charity, the Anna Ahrenberg Fund for Science and other Pursuits, the King Gustaf VI Adolf Fund for Swedish Culture, the Långmanska Fund for Culture and the Åke Wiberg Foundation.
Exhibition Catalogue Olof Sager-Nelson and His Contemporaries: Anywhere Out of the World
Editor: Johan Sjöström
Authors: Henrik Bogdan, Laura Gutman, Magnus Haglund, Isabella Nilsson and Johan Sjöström, Inga Rossi-Schrimpf, Patrik Steorn, Jeff Werner
Languages: Swedish, English
Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2015
Paperback, 260 pages
ISBN: 978-91-87968-95-2
Format 210 x 270 mm
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