Press release -
The exhibition Sergel – Fantasy and Reality opens at Nationalmuseum on 19 February
In Spring and Summer 2026, Nationalmuseum will present a major exhibition on sculptor and draughtsman Johan Tobias Sergel. Sergel was a central figure in Swedish art during the late 18th century and is also considered one of the most important sculptors of his time on an international scale. A smaller version of the exhibition will be shown in autumn 2026 at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York.
The exhibition offers a comprehensive view of Sergel’s life and art—from his early years in Stockholm in the 1750s and 1760s, through his many years abroad, above all in Italy in the 1770s, to his commissions for King Gustav III upon his return to Stockholm. One of the goals of the exhibition is to place Sergel’s life and work in a broader cultural and historical context. His relationships with leading cultural personalities and political authorities of the time are given significant attention, and his career is portrayed against the backdrop of life in 18th-century Stockholm, Rome, Paris, London and Copenhagen. Sergel maintained an extensive international network, among them the painters Johann Heinrich Füssli and Nicolai Abildgaard, and the exhibition highlights how important these connections were to his artistic development.
A major focus is placed on Sergel’s more personal and private drawings. He left behind a large number of works depicting everyday life, family, friends, and erotic scenes. Sergel drew incessantly, and his drawings include everything from grand mythical subjects to exuberant burlesque caricatures and everyday events familiar to us all. In short: fantasy and reality. Images that reveal the man behind the monumental sculptures: an artist who viewed his contemporaries with both sharp insight and warmth.
Nationalmuseum holds an extensive collection of works by Sergel, which forms the foundation of the exhibition. This is the most comprehensive Sergel exhibition ever, in terms of both the number of artefacts exhibited and the breadth of media represented. There are around 400 works on display in total, of which 70 or so are sculptures. This is a unique opportunity to see Sergel’s terracotta sketches and such a large number of drawings, many of which have never been exhibited before. Sergel’s vibrant (pre-)Romantic Neoclassicism is also situated within a clearer context through loans of relevant works by his artist friends from Great Britain and Denmark: sculptures, drawings and paintings. Most of these have never previously been exhibited alongside Sergel’s works.
A smaller version of the exhibition will be shown in autumn 2026 at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York. It will mark the first time Sergel has been the subject of a monographic exhibition in the United States.
Running alongside and partially integrated, Nationalmuseum is opening a smaller-scale exhibition about Adolf Ludvig Gustav Fredrik Albrecht Couschi, also known as Badin, who was contemporary with Sergel. The exhibition seeks to create a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of how a person of African descent rose to become a significant figure in Swedish society of the time. Nationalmuseum has commissioned a new film about Badin by artist Salad Hilowle that will appear in the exhibition.
The exhibition Sergel – Fantasy and Reality will be on display on the floor 4 of Nationalmuseum from 19 February to 10 August 2026.
Exhibition curator: Daniel Prytz, Nationalmuseum
Exhibition designer: Sara Al Adhami, Nationalmuseum
For press information
Hanna Tottmar, Press Officer, press@nationalmuseum.se, +46 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.
