Opening next month!
Go Swedish! Smörgåsbord and Beyond
On view June 6, 2010 to January 2011
The American Swedish Historical Museum is creating an exhibition that uses the museum collections to explore Swedish food traditions and the dynamic role of food in Sweden and Swedish-American culture. Visitors will discover which foods are characteristic of different regions in Sweden, and learn how Swedish cuisine has changed over time because of trade and modernization. Visitors will also see traditional uses of essential ingredients such as fish and game, breads and baked goods, milk and cheese, and coffee and desserts. Popularized Swedish meals such as the smörgåsbord—and that other famous mainstay, the Swedish meatball— reveal the important role food plays in cultural identity, holiday traditions, and social relationships. The exhibition will open on Sweden's National Day, June 6, 2010. We will celebrate the day with a smörgåsbord that is sure to delight the palette of any foodie. There are a lot of choices out there; make the decision to Go Swedish! And join us in a celebration of food and culture.
This exhibition is made possible by grants from SWEA New Jersey, SWEA Philadelphia, SWEA Washington DC, and the Swedish Council of America. Additional support comes from Aquavit New York, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, IKEA South Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and an anonymous foundation.
Nudes by Anders Zorn
beginning April 7 through Spring 2010
Twelve copperplate etchings by the legendary Swedish artist Anders Zorn are featured around the museum's balcony. Most of the nudes in this exhibit have not been on view since 1992. Although Zorn trained as a painter, he began producing etchings in 1882, following a visit with a Swedish etcher living in London at the time. Zorn’s early copperplates reproduced subjects from his watercolor paintings, which were almost exclusively portraits and nudes. In his lifetime Zorn traveled frequently between Europe and the United States, eventually settling in his native Mora, in the Dalarna province of Sweden. From 1900-1919, Zorn painted hundreds of portraits, and reproduced many of them as etchings. Although his subjects included American presidents, royalty, and prominent figures in society, his most popular works were of the common women he so often persuaded to model for him.
Material Matters: Samples from the Textile Collection
To view more information about past exhibitions at ASHM click here>>