A visit to Norrköpings Art Museum

Otto G. Carlsund was a Swedish man born in Saint Petersburg in 1897. He began his education as a professional illustrator in 1921 at university in Dresden. His ability as an artist was already well-developed. During his time in Germany Carlsund showed his talent for Cubism. He wasn't there long, and soon moved to Paris where he studied under and with some well-known artists of the period. Paris was home for many painters which took part in Modernisms earliest years. Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, and others were all part of this early Modernist movement. To understand Carlsund's painting called “Den sista kubistiska harlekinen” (The Last Cubist Harlequin), it is important to know a little bit more about Modernism. (I am barely scraping the surface here. There is much, much more to be read on the topic.)

In the beginning of the 1900s the western world was seeing the conditions for big changes. The world was getting smaller on account of technology. Science discovered new unimaginable things every year. With the train, steam boat, electricity and airplane people had discovered a new freedom. While people were being introduced to such modernity the question arose of how we could cope with such changes. Would everything be better now? Would technology provide peace for everyone?

Half of the planet was taken up with the question. It was reflected in everything. Music, art and culture suddenly became completely different from anything the world had seen before. Jazz music. Albert Camus. Pablo Picasso. The Classic stiles were over. Carlsund was an unknown part of the movement. His work was quality, but unappreciated.

Then came The Great War. The horrible answer came, and the new peace was lost forever. There was no way back to the Classical period either. The typical opinion before the war had been that humans couldn't possibly use technology to make such horrific weaponry. The artists which made up Modernism had previously seen technology as the greatest expression of mans abilities. Now the found themselves afraid of mans ability to destroy.

The art of Dalí became popular during the 1930 and gave rise to Surrealism. It was an escape from the unanswerable paradoxes which would lead to so many terrors during the following years. His painting told exactly what other artists from the period were feeling. The hope of the early 1900s had been replaced by something strange and menacing.

Cubism was an especially simple and playful style which came to an end not long after the end of the war. To mark the occasion Carlsund would later create his best work in 1934. Den sista kubistiska harlekinen shows an olden times clown in cubist form. The harlequin was a common example of the attitude of the time, shown in many cubist paintings. Carlsund's version, however, curls at the edges and reveals a hard stone wall underneath. The colors of the reveled wall are cold and stark. In front of the harlequin stands a young girl painted in the classic mode which had been used for hundreds of years before Impressionism. The girl is Carlsund's daughter, it is said. The meaning can be read that we who live after the Industrial Revolution would reach for a simpler time because we now see the world so much more for its reality.

The most difficult thing to understand about the painting is its background. On the same surface as the harlequin is a window which shows a distant bridge holding up a steam train. One can't say if the window is a part of the “painting” or a part of the stone wall itself. It's easy to suppose that Carlsund intended this to be unclear. The technology question which plagued modernists was never fully answered. Historical sources show that their opinions on the problem were contradictory. But one thing is certain. Carlsund's comprehension of the situation was perfect.

Besök på Norrköpings Konstmuseum

Otto G. Carlsund var en Svensk man som föddes i Sankt Petersburg 1897. Han började skolas till proffs konstnär i 1921 i Dresden. Hans förmåga var redan välutvecklad. Under hans tid i Tyskland visade han sin talang för kubism. Snart flyttade han till Frankrike och studerade under och med några välkända målare. Paris var hem för många konstnärer som tog del av modernismens tidigare år. Kubism, futurism, dadaism, bl.a. utgör modernism. För att förstå Carlsunds tavla som heter ”Den sista kubistiska harlekinen”, så är det viktigt att veta en bit om modernism.

I början av 1900-talet kom västvärlden att förnimma omständigheterna av en stor förändring. Världen krympte på grund av teknologin. Vetenskap upptäckte nya obegripliga grejer varje år. Med tåget, ångbåten, elektricitet och flygplanen bland andra kom folk att känna till en ny frihet. Medan samhället introducerades till sådana saker så behövde frågan om hur folk kunde klara av förändringarna svaras. Skulle allt vara bra nu? Skulle teknologin tillföra fred till alla?

Hälften av planeten var upptagen med frågan. Det reflekterades i allt. Musik, konst och kultur blev plötsligt helt annorlunda från de av det förflutna. Jazz musik. Albert Camus. Pablo Picasso. De Klassiska stilarna var avslutade. Under tiden var Carlsund en okänd del av rörelsen. Hans verk var bra men ej uppskattad.

Sedan kom första världskriget. Den nya freden var förlorad för evigt. Det fanns ingen väg tillbaka dock till den klassiska perioden heller. Den typiska åsikten innan kriget hade varit att länder inte skulle använda teknologi för att utveckla sådana fruktansvärda vapen. Konstnärerna som bestod modernism hade sett teknologi som det största uttrycket av mänsklighetens begåvning. Nu befann dem sig med rädsla för maskinernas förmåga att förstöra.

Konsten av Dalí blev känd under 1930-talet för en ny stil som heter surrealism. Det var en flykt från de oansvariga paradoxerna som skulle leda till så många fasor under det följande året. Hans tavlor berättade precis vad andra målare från tiden också skulle säga. Hoppet från början av 1900-talet ersattes av någonting konstigt och hotfullt.

Kubism var en särskilt enkel och lekfull stil som dog under första världskriget. För att markera det målade Carlsund sitt bästa verk i 1934. ”Den sista kubistiska harlekinen” visar en gammaldags clown i kubistisk form. Harlekinen var en typiskt förebild av tidens attityd, och det var ofta använd av andra målare. Tavlans hörnor krusar och avslöjar en mörk och hård stenvägg bakom den. Färgerna av den upptäckta väggen är blåaktiga och kalla. Framför harlekinen står en ung tjej målad i den gamla klassiska stilen som fanns tusen år förre impressionismen. Flickan är Carlsunds dotter. Betydelsen kan vara att vi som lever efter den industriella rörelsen når efter en enklare era och vill se livet närmare till hur det verkligen ser ut.

Den svåraste saken att förstå i tavlan är i bakgrunden. På samma yta som harlekinen finns ett fönster som visar en avlägsen bro med ett ångtåg på. Man vet inte om fönstret är en del av tavlan som krusar eller den underliggande blåaktiga väggen. Man kan gissa att Carlsund ville att detta skulle förbli oklart. Teknologifrågan som hade plågat de modernistiska målarna var aldrig svarade. Historiska källor visar att deras åsikter om problemet var ofta motsträvig. Men en sak är säker. Carlsunds förståelse av situationen var perfekt.

Swedish art

So we had a visit to Norrköping's art museum last week for school. It's a fine museum. I was surprised to learn that the most prestigious works of art in Sweden's possession live only 3 blocks from my house. Not even Stockholm has a better collection.

Our assignment was to pick out a favorite painting and write about it. There were basic questions about who painted it, when they were born, what story does the painting tell, and so on. I picked a piece, bought the postcard with its likeness, and came home to research. That's when I found out there was practically nothing written about my artist, and literally nothing written about this painting.

I don't think that my article is in any way professional. In fact, I wish that someone who knew art better than I do had written something already. But since it hasn't been done, at least on the internet, I figured I was obligated to post the following piece. You'll see the Swedish version as I originally wrote it, and for those who are curious I translated it to English as well.

This is not an attempt to impress you all with where my Swedish writing is at this point. That's just an added bonus. The truth is that it was really no trouble to put something online about this artist in case someone in this neck of the world is ever interested.

Finally, if any of you are wondering what happened to my promise to post a new story, be assured that it is coming. School has gotten very busy lately, and I just haven't had time to do anything else. We're over halfway through the semester, though, and there's going to be another week off coming up soon. So hopefully it won't be much longer now before I can publish the first part of the story. Hugs and kisses one and all.