Post by Grubb Back in Gamla Stan after leaving Skansen, I had to duck into the Medieval Museum. (Ella opted for sunshine; she was done with museums.) But, hey, it was National Day and there was free admission. While children played in the fountain outside, I got to slip through the dimly lighted Medieval Stockholm exhibits like…
Author: Grubb
Wild Strawberries
Post by Grubb We were out at the Bergius Botanic Gardens in Brunnsviken yesterday afternoon when I paid homage to Bergman’s final shot in “Wild Strawberries”.
Nordiska
Post by Grubb. This morning we took a bus to the large Nordiska Museet on the island of Djurgården in central Stockholm. The Museet deals with the cultural history of Sweden since the 16th century. First, the long hallway devoted to fashion, then a short hallway length tribute to Strindberg, followed by display cases of cuisine…
The library of dizzy delights
Post by Grubb Imagine Bruegel’s “The Tower of Babel” as if it were a library with books stacked by Borges and you get what it feels like when you enter the Stockholm Public Library. Designed by Gunnar Asplund, the circular structure around the rotunda of the reading room was finished in 1928. Browsing titles three…
Yesterday’s scream
Post by Grubb. First, at the Moderna Museet. There was in Monica Sjöō’s “The Great Cosmic Mother” exhibit of her work, her own twist on Munch. Then, in the Museum for the Performing Arts, Ella’s version. Outside, Ella was calmed down by a quick lilac embrace.
To the moon with Laurie
Post by Grubb. To get to the Moderna Museet this morning, we crossed a bridge to the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm. The museum was at the top of a hill next to a sculpture park resembling a modernistic playground. The main exhibit featured Laurie Anderson. In the early 1980s I covered a Laurie Anderson gig…
Filmstaden, Råsunda
Post by Grubb Laurie Anderson’s musings about pilgrimages notwithstanding, I knew where today’s pilgrimage would end up. The film studio facilities in Råsunda, Solna on the outskirts of Stockholm were built in 1920 and subsequently more than 400 Swedish films were shot there. Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” was shot in the studio and the surrounding…
Sometimes not even one
Post by Grubb. Contemporary art museums are always a risky proposition. No matter what’s on exhibit, they’re usually located in a part of town that’s far from the tourist trade, places with a lot of warehouses and abandoned factories. The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation is on a part of an island that on this Saturday…
In the garden of the heroic
Post by Grubb. Furthering our adventures around the Stockholm archipelago, we went to Lindingö island late this morning and were the first ones through the gate of Millesgården, art museum and terraced sculpture park. Carl Milles studied under Rodin in Paris at the turn of the century. Sculpting with neo-classical brio, Carl become Sweden’s answer to Gustav…
Fotografiska
Post by Grubb. We took a ferry from the Thiel Gallery. And ended up at Stockholm’s Photography Museum. Before we checked out the exhibits, we had lunch at a restaurant on the top floor. Great view. Some people were enjoying it less than others. After lunch, the exhibits. Diana Markosian documented her journey to America comparing the soap…
Bergman
Post by Grubb. And I don’t mean Ingrid, or Ingmar, but Oskar, the painter. His was the biggest collection at the Thiel Gallery that we traveled to today. On the outskirts of Stockholm past the American Embassy and expansive green equestrian grounds, the Thiel Gallery is nestled among expensive villas overlooking an undeveloped stretch of coastline. The…
Vasa
Post by Grubb. Still on the Djurgården island, we couldn’t resist the Vasa Museum. This an immense maritime museum built around an almost fully intact 17th century 64- gun warship that sank in 1628 and was salvaged in 1961. The Vasa gives you an idea why Sweden was so great a power during the Thirty-Years…
Tunnel of Viking adventure
Post by Grubb. Around noon we took the ferry from Gamla Stan to visit the Viking Museum on Djurgården Island. I was captivated by the museum’s mapped historical timeline. Given the extent of the three-hundred year extended Viking tour, it’s a wonder that we all don’t have a drop of that marauding Nordic blood in our veins. And…
Nobel Flashback
Post by Grubb. After our first stop in Gamla Stan where we had been awestruck by the Stockholm Cathedral (four hosannas), we cut through a plaza to go to the Nobel Museum. When I was growing up in Chicago where my father was at the university doing his thing, my parents would throw a tree-trimming party…
Moose flees photo opportunity
Post by Grubb. I always get a kick out of the absurdities of travel, especially the misunderstandings. While we were boating up the coast of Norway (a few days ago), we took a quick bus jaunt over the Lofoten archipelago. Our guide, speaking first in Norwegian, then in English, was a middle-aged man who directed our…