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…
Our route, Monday, June 5
First off we took the metro and then a totally packed tram to Nordiska, a museum full of Nordic stuff. Where everyone was going with their big strollers and little kids on a Monday morning, it wasn’t this museum. Next, by bus to the Stockholm Public Library. You might wonder why in the heck…but wait…
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.
Tunnelbana art
Out of 100 Tunnelbana stations (T-bana, metro, subway, trains that go underground) in the greater Stockholm area, about 90 have been artistically accessorized. As an ending to the day on Sunday, we decided to explore a few stops on the T11 blue line. We happened to be near T-Centralen so that’s where we started. Today,…
“Looking into a Mirror Sideways”
Post by Ella Laurie Anderson is someone who passed me by. I was never a fan, or not a fan. I was aware of her as a unique artist. Would saying “singularly unique” be redundant? At any rate, I simply didn’t pay much attention. When we found out the Modern Museum in Stockholm was having…
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…
The Daily Food Report
You are really lucky today. Two days in one post. Saturday, June 3At Millesgården, we shared a virtuous light snack in the museum cafe. A whole avocado cut into large chunks on thick pumpernickel. This was no wimpy Avocado toast. Dinner, we went Danish. Maybe we didn’t get enough in Denmark. Nybroplan Smorrebrod was the…
Our route, Sunday, June 4
All over the place… Below, museum hopping. Below that, T-bana hopping
Interiors
Post by Ella. We posted photos of the sculptures at Millesgårten yesterday (see Grubb’s Sat, June 3, “In the garden of the heroic”) but didn’t post any interiors. This was also the residence of Carl Milles, the sculptor and his wife, Olga, an artist in her own right. The residence was built in 1908 for…
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…
Our route, Saturday, June 3
Here is the overview First to Millesgården by metro to metro to bus to feet From the wealthy, elegant, whimsically classical at Millesgården to… Contemporary Art, full of artists ego at Magasin III, by feet and ferry But yes, we get to the Contemporary Art museum. And then, back to the ferry stop where we…
Two bedroom apartment in quiet neighborhood overlooking the water
Post by Ella. Stockholm’s latitude is 59.3°N. The sun still sets and we get a few hours of darkness. Below, the early morning view (1:30am) from our balcony. Sunrise is 3:41am. The body of water you can see is where Traneburgssund (Traneburg’s Sound) meets Mariebergssundet. (Marleberg’s Strait). Stockholm stretches across 14 islands and the banks of…
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…