Utopia and Reality Cecilia Widenheim

The 20th century was characterized by an obsession with the impulse to be "modern". New times demanded new ideologies and models of social organization that in turn stimulated new forms of art, architecture, photography, film and design. This volume examines how modernity was expressed in Sweden during the 20th century. Over 200 illustrations document the work of artists, photographers, industrialists, designers and architects whose ideas and practices, rooted within modernism and the modern movement, became a part of the vital heritage for which Sweden is still renowned. The contributors to the volume discuss the impulses behind modernism, the concepts attached to it, and its expression in a variety of media. They consider the work of those artists who at the beginning of the century, ventured out to the great European centres, Paris and Berlin, as well as those who stayed at home to depict a society in transition. They also look closely at the work of architects who shaped Swedish functionalism, of designers who created new consumer goods, industrial designs and unique objects, and of photographers who added their own unique perspectives to the changes in the modern world.

Cecilia Widenheim is curator at the Modern Museum in Stockholm with responsibility for the Swedish and Scandinavian painting and sculpture collection.