Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700

April 13-September 5, 1988

Overview: 65 decorative art objects of the 16th and 17th centuries came from the Swedish royal collections. Included were crowns, scepters, and other royal regalia, armor and inlaid firearms, royal costumes, drawings, enamels, and sculpture gathered and used by the kings and queens of Sweden. The exhibition was organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with the National Gallery as a part of New Sweden '88, a national observance of the 350th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent Swedish settlement in the United States. The exhibition was coordinated by D. Dodge Thompson. King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia attended the opening.

Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser designed the exhibition to resemble the interior of a castle, and Gordon Anson designed the lighting for the National Gallery. The exhibition was supported by the Boeing Company, the Federation of Swedish Industries, and the Swedish government. It was indemnified by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 368,310 (145 days)

Location: East Building, Mezzanine, Northwest, Pod II (3,500 sq. ft.)

Catalogue: Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700, edited by Michael Conforti and Guy Walton. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1988.

Other venue:

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

October 9, 1988-January 1, 1989

Search past exhibitions
Previous | Next (chronological list)