STOCKHOLM.- The exhibition shows how home interiors and design styles have changed from one era to the next, and also how the image of the home as portrayed by artists has evolved. Artists became increasingly interested in painting domestic scenes as the home took on greater importance in western culture during the 18th and 19th centuries. The home became a critical issue for every social group, and artists were there to capture the manor homes of the aristocracy, the urban apartments of the well-to-do merchant class, and the humble farmers’ cottages.

A Changing View of Home
The exhibition illustrates how the artists’ view of the home as a place for a variety of activities – drinking tea, relaxing, playing cards, or baking bread – has changed over time. For example, Jean-Eric Rehn and Pehr Hilleström depicted the social life of aristocratic and bourgeois homes during the 18th century. Toward the end of the 19th century, artists such as Hanna Pauli and Carl Larsson often painted their own loved ones gathered together in the warm glow of a kerosene lamp.

From Bourgeois Parlor to Country Kitchen
The artworks have been grouped according to various themes, such as The 18th-Century Home, The Bourgeois Parlor, Sunlit Spaces at the Turn of the Century, and In the Kitchen Area. Oil paintings, drawings, and watercolors are mixed with selected objects of applied art. Carl Larsson’s painting Mrs. Dora Lamm and Her Two Eldest Sons is shown together with a Rococo bureau by Lars Nordin – an 18th-century piece recently acquired by The Nationalmuseum. The bureau comes from the Lamms’ home, and is visible in the painting.

A Unique Treasure Trove of Pictures
The exhibition includes some highly detailed, descriptive pictures as well as paintings inspired by Impressionism that emphasize lighting and color effects. Many of the works are extremely fragile, especially the watercolors, and can only rarely be shown to the public. So this is a unique chance to view a series of seldom-seen works by some of Scandinavia’s most important artists. All of the works in the exhibition are part of Nationalmuseum’s collection except for the above-mentioned painting by Carl Larsson, which is on loan from Länsmuseet
Gävleborg.