Art on Demand: Objects, Knowledge and Ideas from the Low Countries in Sweden, 1500-1750
Symposium.

On Thursday 16 May, the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History will host a symposium to mark the launch of the richly annotated and illustrated digital English version of Horst Gerson’s chapter on Sweden from his Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts of 1942 (Dispersal and Legacy of Dutch Painting of the 17th Century). Before 1942, the study of Netherlandish art and artists in Sweden was largely uncharted territory. In recent years, research into the contribution of Dutch and Flemish art and architecture to Swedish culture has intensified, but so far no new 'History of ...' has been written. The launch of the annotated and translated version of Gerson’s text provides a perfect opportunity to rethink, discuss and contextualize his original findings with current knowledge.

At the Art on Demand symposium, specialists from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands will present a range of papers highlighting different aspects of cultural exchange in art history: travelling architects, (court) painters, engravers, sculptors and tapestry weavers, exchanges in print culture, the export of art and, finally, aspects of collecting history, including looted art and diplomatic gifts.

Tickets (including coffee/tea and lunch): € 20 regular / € 10 students + Friends of the RKD. Available for purchase here: https://webshop.rkd.nl/symposium-art-on-demand-objects-knowledge-and-ideas-form-the-low-countries-in-sweden-1500-1750.html

PROGRAMME

Thursday 16 May 2024
9.30 – 10.00 Registration and Coffee

Welcome and Introduction

10.00 Chris Stolwijk (director RKD), Welcome
10.05 Minister counsellor Louise Bonbeck (Embassy of Sweden in the Netherlands), Welcome
10.10 Rieke van Leeuwen, Launch Gerson Digital : Sweden and Introduction to the Program

Session 1: Painting and Print Culture between the Low Countries and Sweden
(Chair: Rieke van Leeuwen)
10.20 Charlotta Krispinsson, Repetition and Imitation: On Portraiture in Sweden in the First Half of the 17th Century
10.40 Elisabeth Knall, Johan Johnsen (1653-1708), Immigrant Artist with an Eye for Flowers
11.00 Alex Alsemgeest, Print Culture and Dutch Engravers Active in Sweden
11.20 – 11.35 Discussion
11.35-11.45 Short break

Session 2: Netherlandish Tapestries for Swedish Customers
(Chair: Rieke van Leeuwen)
11.45 Anders Svensson & Sarah Benson, The Fountain of Venus: a Case Study of Swedish Tapestry
Weaving in the mid-1500s from an Industry Built on Flemish Expertise
12.05 Jos Beerens, Christ in Skokloster: Revisiting the Unlikely Story of Tobias Schaep’s Tapestry Series with Scenes from the Life of Christ
12.25 – 12.35 Discussion
12.35 – 13.45 Lunch break

Session 3: Case Studies in the Collection History of Netherlandish Cultural Objects in Sweden
13.45 Introduction to the Session (Chair: Quentin Buvelot)
13.55 Peter Sjökvist, Books that Charles de Geer Brought to Sweden in 1738
14.15 Greger Sundin, The De Geer Collection of Dutch and Flemish Painting in Sweden
14.35 Marius van Dam, Dutch Delftware as a Royal Diplomatic Gift in Sweden
14.50 Kristoffer Schmidt, Netherlandish Art from Kronborg and Fredriksborg in Swedish Collections
15.10 – 15.30 Discussion
15.30 – 16.00 Coffee/tea break

Session 4: Swedish Demand for Architecture and Sculpture from the Low Countries
(Chair: Martin Olin)
16.00 Martin Olin, Building a Protestant Society: Architecture and Religion in Sweden in the 18th Century
16.20 Clara Strömberg, Work in Progress: 17th-Century Funerary Monuments by Netherlandish
Sculptors in Sweden
16.40 – 16.50 Discussion

Concluding Session
16.50 Rieke van Leeuwen, Overviewing Travelling Artists from the Low Countries in Sweden
17.00 – 17.15 Panel Discussion (all chairs & members of the academic committee)
17.30 – 19.00 DRINKS

https://www.rkd.nl/en/symposium-art-on-demand-objects-knowledge-and-ideas-from-the-low-countries-in-sweden-1500-1750