Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
staggeringly ugly face. The size of the figure's penis caused moral outrage when the
sculpture first appeared in 1931, and it was subsequently dramatically reduced to its
current, rather pathetic proportions, totally out of keeping with a statue that's 7m high.
Today, although from the front
Poseidon
appears to be squeezing the living daylights
out of what looks like a massive fish, if you climb the steps of the
Konserthuset
(Concert Hall) to the right and view the statue sideways-on, it becomes clear that
Milles won the battle over
Poseidon
's manhood to stupendous effect, as the enormous
fish appears to be the original penis.
Konstmuseum
Art Museum • Götaplatsen • Tues & Thurs 11am-6pm, Wed 11am-9pm, Fri-Sun 11am-5pm • 40kr •
W
konstmuseum.goteborg.se
Behind
Poseidon
stands Götaplatsen's most impressive attraction, the superb
Konstmuseum
, its massive, symmetrical facade reminiscent of the fascist architecture of
1930s Germany. This is one of the city's finest museums, and it's easy to spend half a
day absorbing the diverse and extensive collections, the highlights of which are picked
out below. A delightful little park,
Näckrosdammen
,
lies just behind the museum; with
its late-spring rhododendrons and big, duck-filled pond, it's a lovely place for a stroll.
3
Hasselblad Center
W
hasselbladfoundation.org
On the ground floor, to the left of the ticket desk, the
Hasselblad Center
contains
excellent exhibitions of contemporary photography. Displays are temporary and aim to
showcase the work of internationally renowned photographers as well as those from
up-and-coming Nordic artists.
European and Swedish collections
The Konstmuseum's collections of European art date from fifteenth to the seventeenth
centuries and fill a total of six rooms. Pride of place is taken by Rembrandt's
Knight
with Falcon
, although Rubens is also well represented with works such as
Adoration of
the Magi
on display. Elsewhere, you'll find
paintings by the celebrated masters of
French Impressionism and artists closely linked to them: Monet, Gauguin, Renoir and
Cézanne, for example. Look out, in particular, for Van Gogh's
Olive Grove, Saint Rémy
from 1899 which is widely considered to be one of the artist's most powerful works in
terms of vitality and expression. Collections of Swedish art are dominated by Alexander
Roslin who is represented by a portrait of French aristocrats and a group portrait of the
well-to-do Grill family.
Fürstenberg Galleries
Best of all, and the main reason to visit, are the
Fürstenberg Galleries
on the top floor,
which celebrate the work of some of Scandinavia's most prolific and revered early
twentieth-century artists; well-known works by Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn and Carl
Wilhelmson reflect the seasons and landscapes of the Nordic countries, and evoke a vivid
picture of Scandinavian life at that time. Paintings to look out for include Larsson's
Lilla
Suzanne
, which touchingly depicts the elated face of a baby and is one of his most realistic
works; Anders Zorn's
Bathers
, flushed with a pale pink summer glow and exemplifying the
painter's feeling for light and the human form; and the sensitive portraits by Ernst
Josephson, most notably his full-length portrait of Carl Skånberg - easily mistaken for the
young Winston Churchill. The Danish artist Peter Kroyer's marvellous
Hip Hip Hooray
again plays with light, and a couple of works by Hugo Birger also deserve your attention.
One depicts the interior of the original Fürstenberg Gallery (see p.111), while his massive
Scandinavian Artists' Breakfast in Paris
, dominating an entire wall, puts some faces to the
artists' names - a pamphlet in the room will help identify them. Also worth a look is an
entire room of Larsson's bright, fantastical wall-sized paintings.
