Press release -
The exhibition Beauty and the Unexpected opens at Nationalmuseum 30 March
Beauty and the Unexpected features modern and contemporary American crafts selected by former gallerist and craft educator Helen W. Drutt English. The exhibition displays 81 objects including jewelry, chairs, ceramics, wall pieces and textiles from the 1950s until today. The works have been donated to The American Friends of Nationalmuseum of Sweden and will in future become part of Nationalmuseum’s collections.
Helen W. Drutt English conceived the inspiration to the exhibition when approached by Nationalmuseum of Sweden after she had been working with a similar initiative, Gifts from America, for the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in 2014. The idea of the exhibition and putting together a collection was developed further in collaboration with the museum and The American Friends of the Nationalmuseum of Sweden. Drutt English started selecting works, all donations. The collection was formed by the generosity of spirit of each artist or donor whose commitment to the project was essential.
“The past 65 years have been an extraordinary period of searching and experimentation. The modern craft movement has fused with mainstream concerns and the distinctions separating the arts have dissolved. The ability to move from functional forms to sculpture, wearable objects to ornamental tapestry, is self-evident in a range of ideas which unite a brooch, a pot, and a chair. Traditional categories not only have a limited place in the history of the 20th and 21st century art but also cause havoc in the selection process and placement in our museums. These thoughts dominated my mind as I began to make a selection of works for Nationalmuseum,” Helen W. Drutt English says.
The selection eventually consisted of 81 works from the 1950s until today that can be seen in the exhibition. They are made by 79 prominent American artists such as Art Smith, Nancy Carman, George Nakashima, Lenore Tawney, Toshiko Takaezu, Jere Osgood, Rudolf Staffel, Jamie Bennett, Albert Paley and Wayne Higby. The invited artists come from all over the United States of America. Each person brings his or her own associations to bear on the work, which allows the observer’s entry into the artist’s mind. Kim Overstreet and Robin Kranitzky were commissioned to create a work specifically for the exhibition celebrating Sweden and the United States of America. Joyce Scott created a brooch for the exhibition. Syd Carpenter’s terracotta Farm Bowl with Chicken was plucked from her solo exhibition at Rowan University in New Jersey. Yvonne Bobrowicz’s fiber floorscape was removed from her living room floor and was previously exhibited in Three Centuries of American Art in 1976 in Philadelphia.
The objects in the exhibition have been donated by artists, collectors, Helen W. Drutt English and her family to The American Friends of Nationalmuseum of Sweden, whose mission is to foster and support understanding and appreciation of art and design, and to support Nationalmuseum. They will in future become part of Nationalmuseum’s collections and provide a possibility to look at American crafts in the Nordic context.
About Helen W. Drutt English
Helen W. Drutt English is renowned for her significant contributions to the advancement of modern and contemporary craft in the USA. She was one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen in 1967 and served as its Executive Director until 1973 when she founded Helen Drutt Gallery in Philadelphia and simultaneously developed the syllabus for the first college-level course in the history of modern craft. She has served as America’s ambassador for crafts, championing the work of American artists internationally, and including their work in museum collections worldwide.
Beauty and the Unexpected – Modern and Contemporary American Crafts will be exhibited on the middle floor of Nationalmuseum 30 March 2023–21 January 2024. The selection is made by Helen W. Drutt English and project leader for the donation and the exhibition is Pernilla Stödberg, Nationalmuseum.
Media enquiries
Hanna Tottmar, head of press, press@nationalmuseum.se, +46 (0)8-5195 4400
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Nationalmuseum is Sweden’s museum of art and design. The collections comprise some 700 000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, drawings and graphic art from the 16th century up to the beginning of the 20th century and the collection of applied art and design up to the present day. Nationalmuseum is a government authority with a mandate to preserve cultural heritage and promote art, interest in art and knowledge of art.
