Evening star., 1938-05-15
By Leila Mechlin.


Swedish Art, which opened in
/. the Corcoran Gallery of Art,
L last Tuesday afternoon, under
the distinguished auspices of His
Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of
Sweden, and His Excellency the Min
lister of Sweden, proves even more i'm
pressive in fact than in anticipation.
Seldom indeed Is it possible to secure
q survey of the art of q nation over q
span of eight thousand years and in
comparatively such small compass. To
be sure this exhibition occupies two
large galleries, the hemicycle and half
the atrium. but herein is set forth
the cultural history of a people that
have held together and maintained
their individuality since man emerged
in the northland from prehistoric
darkness. And what Is more their his
tory Is our history-that Of the human
race-and In it we see the seeds of art
awake to life and, in flower and fruit,
add beauty and flavor to human exist.
ence.
To be sure the products Of the ear
liest period, reaching from the Bone
Age through the Neolitnic Age-from
5000 to 1900 B.C.-were, in truth, not
works of art, but none can say that
they were not artistically wrought. I'm
plements OF utility and weapons Of
protection, they were shaped with
grace Of line and beauty of surface.
From the period known as the Bronze
Age-1l00-600 B.C.,-are shown YES
sells Of bronze finely formed and richly
ornamented, also jeWelry in gold wit
Messing to expert craftsmanship and
satisfaction in pure adornment. What
simple, dignified patterns were used
patterns which today would be styled
modern, but which were originated
without superficial thought, with the
completely natural desire to increase
beauty. enrich life. Especially hand
some Is necklace of pure gold Of
the 7th century BIC, stamped with
half moon ornaments, very simple and
effective. Some of the rings and
buckles of this period are also ex-
amples Of fine taste as well as work.
manship.
OF PECULIAR interest to us in
America are the exhibits belong
Ing to the Viking period-9th to
1lth century AD.-for it was dur
Ing that era that Lief Erikson and
his fellow Norsemen sailed to and
landed on our northern Atlantic coast.
Outstanding among these are two stone
monuments-one a so-called picture
IN which figure warrior on horse
back stopped by woman holding, up
raised, a drinking horn, and two per-
sons in ship on a rough sea. all in
closed IN an elaborate decorative bor-
der OF lnterWoven strands; the other
"Runic ST Vne" raised by IN. NJ" to
her husband Sven, who. as the design
Is OF deer, was perhaps a mighty
hunter Coming down from the 18th
and 14th centuries AID, are a large
blinking horn of wood with bronze
mountings bearing a handle in the
shape OF griffin, whose tail is
held in the mouth of an animal in
which the long horn terminates; and
bridal pail. or section thereof, done
with blue wool and red and yellow
linen. This, too, takes the form of an
imaginary animal not unlike those
occasionally used for heraldic design.
Peasant Art Reveals
National Characteristics.
NEXT in interest comes the collec-
ton of peasant art, to which
the second gallery is given. Here we
f1nd cupboards and chests, such as
people would need in the rural dis
tricts, but we'll designed and gayly
colored, harness bows of wood finely
carved and colored, wooden drinking
vessels with ornamental handles;
last, but not least, textiles, pictorial
wall hangings, bed covers in elaborate
patterns, rugs and the like, made by
local craftswomen for use in their own
homes-and wonderfully preserved
Whereas the so-called popular art"
IN contrast to that of the upper
classes, is of comparatively late de-
velopment, the crafts Of Sweden date
back four centuries, and although the
expression is varied in the different
provinces the same motives are found
to appear and reappear throughout
The examples Of these peasant crafts
set forth in this exhibition truly tell
us much about the changeful charac-
teristics and contrasts of the Swedish |
mind" In them are reflected the |
sorrows and joys, the courage and the |
stability, of the Swedish people of
small means We are reminded, |
furthermore, that the esthetic taste
one meets with here is the fruit of |
centuries of nurtured tradition. OBJ
viously all the products of the old
peasant culture are not art, but, as
DR.. Strombom says in the catalogue,
ITO us industrialized beings it seems
wonderful how far the popular imagi-
nation stretched its magic wand above
the daily round and common task"
Painting Witness to Effect
OF Foreign Influences.
THE paintings comprised in this
notable exhibition are displayed
in the hemicycle and the atrium. The
older ones are hung in the latter, and
in these the visitor observes. most OBJ
viously, evidence of influence derived
through contacts with other nations.
As the school of painting in England
had its inception. or was brought to
flower through the medium Of paint
ers from Northern Europe, such as
Holbein, Van Dyck and Lely, so Swe-
den seems to have owed her impetus
In this art to artists from Germany |
who crossed the sea and settled among
the Swedes. An excellent example is
q portrait of the Countess Beata de la
Gardie, by David Klucker Ehren-
strahl, who went from Hamburg to
Sweden in 1851 and remained there
until his death, in 1893. He it was who
established an aristocratic art among
those Of the upper classes. Later
there came French strain, in the work
NJ Alexander RnSlin who left the |