Two young boys are carrying an angel on a logg. One of the boys are looking straight at the viewer.
Hugo Simberg, “Wounded Angel” (detail), 1903. Ahlström Collection, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki
Photo: Hannu Aaltonen
  • 28 February 2025 10.00–15.30
  • The National Museum – The Auditorium
  • In English

Welcome to an art history seminar to mark the opening of the exhibition “Gothic Modern. From Darkness to Light.”

The exhibition is based on a research project about artists of the modern era who became interested in medieval art. Many of these artists were inspired by the Gothic aesthetic and its power to arouse deep emotion.

The research collaboration has also resulted in a substantial publication in English and Norwegian, distributed by Hirmer Publishers, University of Chicago Press and Thames & Hudson.

The seminar will include presentations by curators and researchers who discuss the themes of the exhibition and the publication.

The seminar is open to all, but you need a ticket to participate. Price: 100 kroner, 50 kroner for students. The number of places is limited. Registration and coffee in the area outside Storsalen (Grand Hall), before entering the Auditorium.

Programme

10.00 Registration and coffee

10.30 Welcome and introduction
Vibeke Waallann Hansen, Curator, Nasjonalmuseet and Cynthia Osiecki, Curator, Nasjonalmuseet.

10.45 Journeys to the Gothic: A Gothic Modernism as Thought and Form
Dr. Juliet Simpson, Professor of Art History, Coventry University, UK. 

11.15 Erotic Piety: The Sixteenth Century vs. the Nineteenth Century
Dr. Jeanne Nuechterlein, Professor of Art History, University of York, UK.

11.45 Emanuel Vigeland’s Stained Glass Windows – Life, Death and Comforting Angels
Kjartan Hauglid, Art Historian and Intendant of Emanuel Vigeland Museum.

12.15 Break

13.15 A Modern Dance of Death in the Art of Hugo Simberg and His Contemporaries
Dr. Marja Lahelma, Curator, The National Gallery of Finland, Ateneum.

13.45 Art Historian Curt Glasner and the Debate about the Spirit of Early German Art
Cynthia Osiecki, Curator, Nasjonalmuseet.

14.15 Edvard Munch and the Gothic
Vibeke Waallann Hansen, Curator, Nasjonalmuseet.

14.45 Coffee break

15.00 Curators’ panel discussion

15.30 Visit the exhibition (closes at 17.00)

“Gothic Modern. From Darkness to Light” presents art from the period 1875 to 1925 alongside works from medieval Europe and Northern Europe during the renaissance. Faith and doubt, love and sexuality, identity and social roles are just some of the themes addressed in the exhibition.

The exhibition has been initiated by the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki and made in collaboration with them and the Albertina, Vienna.