Nordic Surrealism: 1930-1960

Nordic Surrealism is a landmark exhibition tracing the emergence and evolution of Surrealist thought in Sweden and Denmark from the 1930s through the 1960s. Featuring works by Stellan Mörner, Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, Lambert Werner, Max Walter Svanberg, and Eric Cederberg, the exhibition re-examines a critical yet overlooked chapter in modern art history.

Surrealism was codified in Paris in the 1920s, but quickly became a transnational movement. In the Nordic countries, it took shape not as a unified group, but through individual artists who engaged with its ideas in distinct and personal ways. These artists absorbed Surrealism's revolutionary language—automatism, symbolism, eroticism, and metamorphosis—and translated it into forms shaped by Nordic visual traditions, mythologies, and psychological introspection.

From the early adoption and promotion of Surrealist theory by Bjerke-Petersen in Denmark, to the independent development of Surrealist imagery by Mörner and Werner in Sweden, and later, to the international recognition of Svanberg and his association with André Breton’s circle in Paris, Nordic Surrealism presents a continuous and varied dialogue with the movement. It reveals a Surrealism less centered on rupture and provocation, and more attuned to quiet transformation, symbolic form, and interior vision.

While many of these artists exhibited internationally during their lifetimes, their place in Surrealism’s global narrative has often been understated. This exhibition offers a timely reappraisal, bringing together decades of experimentation and innovation that reflect both the reach and the adaptability of Surrealist thinking far beyond its French origins.