Page 61 - Studio International - December1996

nected with the general theme of the Baroque and in
many ways it was not very satisfactory. It sought to
illustrate some aspects of fantastic art from the sixteenth
century to the present day, in all a very difficult and
perhaps dangerous thing to do, because with such a
theme the temptation always is to cram into it things
which really have no relevance at all. There is even the
question whether the theme was a particularly good one.
Some of the exhibits were impressive but the overall
impression was vague, bewildering and unclear. There
were architectural drawings by Piranesi, paintings by
Hundertwasser, by Klee, Ernst, de Chirico and many
others. The modern pieces had certain interesting things
to say about Surrealism, but the exhibition was not
organized in such a way that any sort of complete picture
on any single aspect of the theme could emerge. Some of
the best things were photographs of fantastic architecture,
of one of Schwitter's Merzbaue, for example, of the aston-
ishing Holy Forest of Bomarzo and of Ferdinand Cheval's
Palais Ideal.

Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610)
Holy Family with Angels
143- x 91 in.
This picture, one of Elsheimer's finest, finds precedents in
Cranach the Elder's 'Rest on the Flight' of 1504 and Altdorfer's
Berlin paintings of 1510. Elsheimer in fact borrowed the figure of
Joseph in this picture from one of the Altdorfer Berlin series.
From internal evidence it has been suggested that Elsheimer
painted this picture between 1598 and 1600 when he was staying
in Venice. Certainly the blues, yellows, and red indicate a
knowledge of Titian, Veronese, and Tintorretto.
(From German Painters and Draughtsmen of the Seventeenth
Century)

Picasso sculptures
in Stockholm

In the spring of 1962, Picasso and the Norwegian artist Carl
Nesjar began to collaborate, Nesjar realizing in concrete
Picasso's sketches for giant sculptures. The idea was to place
these works in parks or other open public sites. The host
authority would pay only the costs of construction.
Nesjar and K. G. Hultén proposed a series of such sculptures
for Stockholm. The first of these was recently inaugurated in the
garden of the MODERNA MUSEET - Hultén is the museum's
director. The group of four figures, developed from Picasso's
paper cartoons, plays upon the theme of Manet's Déjeuner sur
l'Herbe. The figures were constructed in Norway and were
transported to Stockholm on giant lorries; they weigh together
three and a half tons. Foundations were laid from paper models,
and the group was set in place late this summer, making a
splendid addition to the Museum's permanent collection.