Printscapes: Impressions of Nature by Rachelle Puryear and Lars Nyberg
January 17, 2010 - May 2, 2010

The American Swedish Historical Museum presents the work of Stockholm artists Rachelle Puryear and Lars Nyberg. Puryear and Nyberg differ in methodology and style, but share a love for nature and the art of printing. Puryear creates etchings, screenprints and photogravure that originate from her impressions of nature and poetry. Nyberg’s drypoints depicting Swedish winters appear sparsely drawn, but each image erupts with detail upon closer investigation. Both artists share an interest in observation and attending to the details of life. They take a familiar section of reality, whether it’s a leaf, a building, or a tree, and present it as something new to be explored for the very first time. Visitors can use magnifying glasses to study the intricate details of the etchings and drypoints. The artists’ tools, etched plates, and paper substrates further express the diverse realms of printmaking. Come explore the scenic horizons of Sweden through the printed work of these talented Stockholm artists!

The Printscapes exhibition was organized as part of the Philagrafika 2010: Independent Projects. For information on Philagrafika 2010, and the more than 75 other independently curated projects taking place throughout the city, please visit the web site www.philagrafika2010.org. Philagrafika, the organizing body of Philagrafika 2010, is a nonprofit arts organization in Philadelphia that provides leadership for large-scale, collaborative initiatives with broad public exposure.

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Colony to Community: The Story of New Sweden describes the journey of Swedes and Finns who came to the Delaware Valley in 1638 to establish the New Sweden Colony, an outpost to give Sweden a foothold in the growing fur and tobacco trades. Through rare collection objects, historic documents and images, this exhibition explores the origins of the New Sweden Colony, the cultural endurance of the settlement that made it possible for Swedes and Finns to continue to immigrate to the area in the 18th and 19th centuries and how we preserve the past by commemorating New Sweden’s legacy today.

Ennesbo is an artistic interpretation of the multifaceted experience of a single place.  Ennesbo is a small farming settlement in rural southern Sweden where the artist Sandra Binion's family has lived and worked for over 300 years and from which her great-grandmother emigrated to the U.S. in 1896.

The artist was drawn to the farm as she delved into her personal, familial and cultural roots. Through the richness of her time spent there, the farm became a locus for investigating broader issues of one's sense of place, the effects of landscape on individual sensibility and the transmission of cultural values across history.  Through the use of various media - a multi-channel video installation, surround sound, photographs, paintings and wallpaper - the artist conveys an immediate sense of movement and discovery in the space of the exhibition.  The visitor joins in the artist's own personal discovery of unfamiliar rooms, houses, landscapes and histories of the farm and its surroundings. Various media are used to celebrate the details of everyday activities, the endless textures of the land and lakes, and the rhythms that run through the lives of the people on the farm: rowing through water lilies in the flickering early morning sunlight, cutting grass with a scythe, rolling dough for home made coffee cake, and driving through the forest at night.

Click here for a link to the artist Sandra Binion's website>>

This exhibition was made possible at ASHM by gifts from Swea New Jersey and Swea Philadelphia. Additional support comes from The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and an anonymous foundation.

Nathan Sawaya is a 35-year-old New York artist who creates artwork solely from standard LEGO brick and created many new works specifically for the exhibit featured at the American Swedish Historical Museum. Nearly one million colorful LEGO pieces transformed into whimsical and awe-inspiring images brought thousands of visitors to the museum in South Philadelphia during the Autumn of 2008.

Click here to view The Art of the Brick featured on NBC10 - 10! Show - August 26>>

Click here to view Nathan Sawaya and The Art of the Brick on CBS 3 News - August 22>>

Click here to read more about The Art of the Brick>>

Click here to visit Nathan Sawaya's site >>

Dylan Carroll is a contemporary artist and illustrator specializing in mythology, folklore and fairy tales. He paints primarily in watercolor on hot-press paper and strives for an optimum blend of fantasy and historical authenticity in his work. This special exhibition opened on Viking Day.

The exhibition Charles Allmond: Second Nature featured wildlife sculpture and abstract pieces in stone, wood and bronze.Charles Allmond: Second Nature, is a labor of love for the Delaware sculptor. “I combine a love for nature, especially animals, with a love for working with my hands,” says Allmond. “Charles Allmond has transformed the intangible concept of the spirit of nature into tangible form” notes Karol A. Schmiegel, Director Emerita, Biggs Museum of American Art. After twenty-five years of experience with the creative process, it has “become second nature to him.”

Charles Allmond is a direct carver of stone and wood. As he works, the grain of the wood or the color of the stone give way to a creature which is modernist in its abstraction, yet eminently recognizable. The titles of sculptures often reveal larger themes present in Allmond’s work. For instance, the exhibition at ASHM features Harmony, an elegantly simple fish of smooth alabaster balanced within a perfect circle of white limestone, framed, but not constrained, by a square of dark oak. The positive and negative space, dark and light materials, rectilinear forms and curves combine in harmonious concert in this work inspired, according to Allmond, by sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957).

Allmond's work has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries and can be found in public, private and corporate art collections. Allmond’s most recent links to Sweden were his commission to create a sculpture for the visiting HRH Crown Princess Victoria in 2003 and a 1993 contribution of an avian sculpture to the Birds in Art exhibition at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. According to Schmiegel, “Charles Allmond embraces three elements characteristic of modern Swedish art: good craftsmanship, simple design, and economy of line,” but Allmond’s connection to Sweden goes all the way back to the New Sweden Colony (1638-1655). His ancestor Morton Mortonson, Sr. was amongst the early Swedish settlers to make a home here in the Delaware Valley.

See pictures from the Charles Allmond: Second Nature opening here>>
Click to view more of Charles Allmond's work >>

Read a review of Charles Allmond: Second Nature from Art Matters here>>
Read a review of Charles Allmond: Second Nature from South Philly Review here>>

In honor of the reprinting of the book Elin’s Amerika, the American Swedish Historical Museum presented a small exhibition of artwork by Marguerite de Angeli. Marguerite Lofft De Angeli (1889-1987) wrote and illustrated award-winning classics of children’s literature and is one of Philadelphia’s most highly respected and best loved authors. Original works in watercolor, pen & ink and pencil were included, along with examples of dolls created as accompaniments to the author’s delightful children’s books.

The beautiful multimedia exhibition Madeleine Hatz: Building a View surveyed seven years of the artist's work and focused primarily on paintings. “Red Bricks Flying," a large abstract composition in vibrant red/orange and ochre oil paint,was displayed at the United Nations for one year while Swedish diplomat Jan Eliasson was President of the 60th Session. "Melancholia" is a series of small and medium-sized oil paintings on burlap, in a palette ranging from neutral earth tones to deep blues. "First Palettes" are works on paper with textures and vibrant colors inspired by summer in a Northern country. The "artist's statements" address art's aspirations for idealism, a search for cultural identity and language.

To view images from the September 16, 2007 exhibition opening click here>>

The American Swedish Historical Museum joined in the celebration of the 300th birthday of Carolus Linnaeus with a special exhibition about the great Swedish naturalist who founded modern biology and named us all Homo sapiens. Through over 100 scientific specimens, drawings, manuscripts, books, and works of art, the exhibition explored the many links between Linnaeus and America. It followed his student Peter Kalm, the first trained scientist to observe North American's peoples, wildlife, and landscapes from the Delaware Valley to Canada. It presented how Franklin and Jefferson made connections between natural history and national identity -- and why Linnaean ideas still matter to Americans today.

Read more about the Linnaeus exhibition which was featured at ASHM in 2007 >>