challenging and educational encounter with art on the pupils' terms. ... Swedish artists, you can use all the pictures i
Folk Tales and Traditions
Educational material for Swedish pupils abroad Nationalmuseum’s learning activities are aimed at giving all pupils an enjoyable, challenging and educational encounter with art on the pupils’ terms. Our objective is to make the museum collections accessible to students in all forms of schooling. Therefore, we have compiled material for Swedish teachers and pupils in other countries. The purpose of this material is to enhance the linguistic development (in the broader sense) of pupils, while enhancing their awareness of the Swedish cultural heritage, history and contemporary society, as reflected in the Nationalmuseum collection. This teacher’s guide contains a total of 15 works by mainly Swedish artists. The paintings are divided into four themes: portraits, landscapes, folk tales and traditions, and history painting. A short introduction to Nationalmuseum and its collections is also included. The selected works do not aspire to give a comprehensive picture of Swedish art history, but can be used to illustrate a few periods in art. The material is intended to serve as a smorgasbord, where teachers can choose a theme or parts of a theme to complement the topics the class is working on at the time. Use one or more of the pictures as a starting-point or inspiration for creative writing or discussions on various subjects. The exercises vary from simple picture tasks and image analysis, to more complex assignments. If you wish to work more extensively on topics such as Swedish artists, you can use all the pictures in the illustration folder and complement them with images from the Nationalmuseum database, which is found on our website: www.nationalmuseum.se. For instructions on how to use the database, please click on Tips. The images in the illustration folder can be printed out in A4 format or shown in the classroom, for instance by using an LCD projector. All exercises are intended for classroom use, but can naturally also be carried out on site at Nationalmuseum. If you are planning to visit and want to focus on particular works, please contact us well in advance to check if the work is currently on display in one of the galleries. Remember that you don’t have to be an expert on art or artists. Explore and discover our works together with your pupils! If you have any questions or comments concerning the material, please contact us via e-mail:
[email protected]
This educational material was written by Helena Sjödin-Landon. Production: Veronica Hejdelind. Graphic design: Agneta Bervokk. Translation: Gabriella Berggren. It was made possible thanks to generous funding from SWEA.
Educational material Folk Tales and Traditions Gnomes, trolls and mythical creatures of nature seem to have a lasting ability to fascinate and entertain. This is evident also in fantasy literature, which is full of witches, wizards, trolls, dwarves, elves and giants in magical adventures and alternative worlds. A folk tale is an imaginative, made-up story that has been passed down orally from generation to generation. A fictitious dream world, independent of time and space, where good conquers evil. In the late NVth century, Sweden’s towns and countryside were going through great changes. Society was rapidly being modernised. Many people moved from the country to work in large factories in the towns. There were also those who began working to protect rural culture. Traditions, folk customs and the national character were seen as something worth preserving. Both Nationalmuseum (NUSS) and Skansen (NUVN) were founded during this period. In the decades around the turn of the previous century, national romanticism dominated Swedish literature, art, architecture and music. Artists who had studied in Paris began painting the Swedish countryside and rural life. Norse myths and the old folktales were also popular subjects in the striving to find and portray the national spirit. The mythical creatures of Swedish folklore also appeared in art, and many of the old folktales were collected and written down. The Folk Tales and Traditions theme can be used as a starting-point for discussions about national identity and traditions, but also in connection with studies of Swedish poetry/literature. Four illustrations in this folder are connected to the theme: The Water Sprite by Ernst Josephson, Fairy Dance by August Malmström, The Princess and the Trolls by John Bauer, and Midsummer Dance by Anders Zorn.
Exercises 1. Pictures generate words. Write a poem! An exercise in free writing inspired by a work of art. “/…/ Her thoughts are ants that wander that wander across the white clouds in the sky and the clouds are her calm and fleeting feelings /…/” From Gunnar Ekelöf Skogsrå (Wood Siren) Gunnar Ekelöf is one example of a writer who was inspired by works of art to write many of his poems. His poem Skogsrå, from the volume Dedikation (NVPQI Dedication), was inspired by a glass relief by the artist Eric Grate.
N
Ask students to choose one of the three pictures (NÓP) from the Legend & Tradition theme folder. Find out more about the Swedish folklore on the Nix, elves or trolls. Ask students to find out more about these mythical creatures. When they have some information about the creature/character in “their” picture, it might be a good idea to analyse the painting, using the questions from exercise sheet R as a guideline.
2. Typically Swedish Herring, Midsummer’s Eve, folk costumes, the Nobel Prize and the freedom to roam, are they typically Swedish? This is a discussion exercise, giving students the opportunity to reflect on national identity, old and new traditions. The exercise is ideally done in small groups. Give each group two sheets of paper. Start by asking the students to write down all the words as they can think of that describe Sweden on one sheet. On the other sheet, ask them to write down the words they feel describes the country they are living in at present. Collect the sheets and use them as a starting-point for a class discussion on issues such as national identity, personal identity, origins and traditions. Do some things stay the same, while others change? What are the differences and similarities between Sweden and the country you are living in? The following questions can be used as guidelines for the discussion: • Is there anything that could be described as typically Swedish? If so, what? • Do you feel that some things are typical of the country you are living in now? Describe it. • Describe differences and similarities between Sweden and the country you are living in. • Are traditions important? What traditions do you follow at home? What holidays do you celebrate? • What traditions will you pass on when you are adults? Will you create your own traditions? If so, describe them, and explain why.
3. Study Anders Zorn’s Midsummer Dance together and discuss • •
Do any of the words you wrote down on the Sweden sheet fit this painting? If so, which words? Is this a “true” picture of Sweden? Is this what it looks like today?
If you want to continue exploring this theme, let the previous groups discuss the following question/assignment: • Imagine that you were asked to make an illustrated advert in a tourist brochure about “your” country, as described on the sheet of paper. What would that picture be like? • Is there anything you would choose not to include in the picture? What, and why? • Would the result be a true picture or a picture of how you wish it wer? What are the differences? • What do you want your picture to convey?
O
1. The Water Sprite, 1882 Ernst Josephson (1851–1906)
According to Swedish legend, the water sprite, Näcken, lures people into the water by playing his fiddle, and then pulls them under so they drown. Näcken is a symbol of the mystical, alluring and enigmatic side of nature. Ernst Josephson’s water sprite is sitting naked on a large boulder in the river, with seaweed and other aquatic plants entwining his legs, belly and head. With an introverted gaze, his eyes closed and his mouth half-open, he seems to be absorbed by the music he is playing. He almost appears to be one with nature. Ernst Josephson was deeply fascinated by the theme of the water sprite throughout most of his artistic career. In the summer of NUTO, on a visit to Eggedal in Norway, he had a vision of the water sprite sitting in the stream, as a mystical spirit of nature. Ernst Josephson worked intensely on the water sprite motif in Paris between NUUO and NUUP, painting at least four versions, one of which is now in Nationalmuseum. He worked indoors, in his studio. The strong emotional expression and sensuality in the paintings shocked the audience at the time. Nationalmuseum refused one of the paintings, The Nix. It was bought by Prince Eugen instead and is now at Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde. Yet another version is in Göteborgs konstmuseum. Nationalmuseum’s version of The Water Sprite was bought by the museum in NVNR. 2. Dancing Fairies, 1866 August Malmström (1829–1901)
In a moonlit landscape the mist sweeps across the water. In the wisps of mist we can see fairies dancing hand in hand. If we half-close our eyes, the fairies disappear and only the mist lingers over the water. August Malmström painted Fairy Dance in NUSS. An art critic at the time was fascinated by the ambiguity of the painting, which lets us choose whether to see the morning mist hovering over the landscape as fairies dancing, or to see the fairies dancing as a morning mist. The love for folktales and legends was fashionable at that time. August Malmström made several versions and variations on this theme. Fairy Dance was printed in magazines and used to illustrate poems. Malmström also made several paintings with themes from Norse mythology. Today, GateMoney (Grindslanten) is his most famous painting. He also worked as a designer and illustrator. In Swedish folklore, fairies are a kind of supernatural beings that come out at twilight or dawn to dance. It was said that their dancing formed rings (fairy rings or fairy dance) where their dancing had flattened the grass, or that mushrooms grew in a circle where they had danced. These rings are actually made by roebucks during the mating season, or created by certain kinds of mushrooms that grow in a circular pattern. The fairies were believed to cause disease, so people were afraid of them.
P
3. The Princess and the Trolls, 1913 John Bauer (1882–1918)
“One night around midsummer, they took Bianca Maria deep into the forest, to the cave where the troll king lived.” From Bortbytingarna (The Changelings) by Helena Nyblom Bland tomtar och troll, NVNP, illustrated by John Bauer.
John Bauer studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Art between NVMM and NVMR. While he was still a student he began to earn his living as an illustrator. Between NVMT and NVNR, he illustrated a series of story books, Bland tomtar och troll (Among Elves and Trolls). Each new volume in the series was published around Christmas every year, with new stories based on old folktales. Thanks to these illustrations, John Bauer became one of Sweden’s most famous story illustrators. In Bauer’s pictures, rocks and trees transform into mythical forest creatures. This is a fantasy world, inhabited by clumsy, ragged trolls and iridescent princesses. After NVNR, John Bauer wanted to move on artistically and began working on monumental paintings and stage sets. On OM November, NVNU, he died, along with his wife Esther and their three-year-old- son, when the canal boat Per Brahe was shipwrecked in a storm on lake Vättern on its way to Stockholm. Trolls in Swedish folk tales resemble humans in some ways. Although of varying size, a troll is easy to recognise by its tail, pointy ears and broad nose. 4. Midsummer Dance, 1897 Anders Zorn (1860–1920)
Whirling couples dancing in the midsummer night. The sun is just about to rise. It is reflected in the gable windows of the red house. The May pole stands out against the pale sky. The painting just about sums up the image of Nordic summer nights at their brightest. Zorn painted Midsummer Dance in NUVT. In his autobiographical notes he tells the story of how he got the idea for the painting. ”One day, we (Prince Eugen and I) rowed up the Hemul-ån creek to Hemus, and on our way back we called on Morkarlby. I got the idea of summoning a fiddler and we went to a farmyard. People started gathering and a sixty-year-old got the dance going with a lively reel. Soon the dance was in full swing. They brought out chairs for us to sit in and the prince was ecstatic over the scene.” Prince Eugen requested that Zorn paint a picture of the event. Q
Exercise Sheet 5. From image to word. Write a poem! Many novelists, poets and song-writers have used pictures as inspiration for their work. Now it’s your turn! Start by collecting information about this mythical creature and analyse the painting. Use the questions below to guide you. 1.
What can you find out about the mythical figure in ”your” picture in Swedish folklore? Look in encyclopaedias and search on the internet.
Study the painting. Use the questions below to guide you. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
What do the creatures in the picture look like? Study their clothing, their facial expressions and poses. What are they doing? Where are they? Describe the setting/nature around them. What time of day does it seem to be? Twilight, early morning, the middle of the day? Is the atmosphere in the picture mysterious, cheerful, ghostlike, or how would you describe it?
Use your observations as inspiration for a poem. Or, if you prefer, choose three to five words from your picture analysis that you want to include in your poem. Use these words as a starting-point for your poem. And remember: there is no right or wrong way to do it. A poem can be in any format.
My list of inspirational words:
R
The Water Sprite, Ernst Josephson
Dancing Fairies, August Malmström
The Princess and the Trolls, John Bauer
Midsummer Dance, Anders Zorn
www.nationalmuseum.se Nationalmuseum collaborates with Accenture, Svenska Dagbladet and Fältman & Malmén
