Portraits – Pictures of People
Educational material for Swedish pupils abroad
Nationalmuseum’s learning activities are aimed at giving all pupils an enjoyable,
challenging and educational encounter with art on the pupils’ terms. Our objective is to
make the museum collections accessible to students in all forms of schooling. Therefore,
we have compiled material for Swedish teachers and pupils in other countries. The
purpose of this material is to enhance the linguistic development (in the broader sense)
of pupils, while enhancing their awareness of the Swedish cultural heritage, history and
contemporary society, as reflected in the Nationalmuseum collection.
This teacher’s guide contains a total of 15 works by mainly Swedish artists. The paintings
are divided into four themes: portraits, landscapes, folk tales and traditions, and history
painting. A short introduction to Nationalmuseum and its collections is also included.
The selected works do not aspire to give a comprehensive picture of Swedish art history,
but can be used to illustrate a few periods in art.
The material is intended to serve as a smorgasbord, where teachers can choose a theme
or parts of a theme to complement the topics the class is working on at the time. Use one
or more of the pictures as a starting-point or inspiration for creative writing or discussions
on various subjects. The exercises vary from simple picture tasks and image analysis, to
more complex assignments. If you wish to work more extensively on topics such as
Swedish artists, you can use all the pictures in the illustration folder and complement
them with images from the Nationalmuseum database, which is found on our website:
www.nationalmuseum.se. For instructions on how to use the database, please click on
Tips.
The images in the illustration folder can be printed out in A4 format or shown in the
classroom, for instance by using an LCD projector.
All exercises are intended for classroom use, but can naturally also be carried out on site
at Nationalmuseum. If you are planning to visit and want to focus on particular works,
please contact us well in advance to check if the work is currently on display in one of
the galleries. Remember that you don’t have to be an expert on art or artists. Explore
and discover our works together with your pupils!
If you have any questions or comments concerning the material, please contact us via
e-mail: [email protected]
This educational material was written by Helena Sjödin-Landon. Production: Veronica
Hejdelind. Graphic design: Agneta Bervokk. Translation: Gabriella Berggren.
It was made possible thanks to generous funding from SWEA.
Educational material
Portraits – Pictures of People
Never before have there been so many pictures of people as there are today. We see them everywhere; in advertisements, magazines, on the internet, on TV and at home. We take pictures of ourselves and others with our mobiles and publish them on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Flickr.
Having your portrait made is a way of being immortalised, seen and remembered. Portraits are a
way of showing the world who you are, or would like to be. But a portrait is more than a physical
depiction. It also aspires to saying something about the individual, his or her interests and social
status. By interpreting facial expressions, gestures, poses, attributes and symbols in the portraits,
we learn something about the person that goes beyond the superficial appearance. A portrait also
conveys the beauty ideals, social hierarchies, norms and trends of the time.
Therefore, both historical and contemporary portraits are interesting and amusing as a learning
resource. They are easy to relate to, explore and discuss. Portraits can be used when studying
topics such as identity, gender, power, trends, fashion and ideals of beauty. This also gives pupils
an opportunity to learn more about famous Swedes and artists.
The illustrations for this theme are as follows: Queen Christina as a Child by Jacob Heinrich
Elbfas, Boy with Parrots and Guenons by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, Asmund Palm Merchant in
Constantinople by Jonas Hoffman, Self-Portrait by Elisabeth Keyser, Mill Owner Jennings, his
Brother and Sister-in-Law by Alexander Roslin, and Oscar II in his Coronation Robe by
Oscar Björk.
Exsercises
1. Simple image analysis
Being able to describe what we see and discuss our conclusions with others is a simple kind of
image analysis. Pupils practise both their oral skills and their imagery. If you prefer them to write
their thoughts down, they also practise their writing skills.
Print out the six different portraits, or project them side by side on a screen in the classroom.
Ask the pupils to work two and two with the questions on Exercise Sheet 1 to study one of the six
portrait.
The exercise sheet can also be used for analysing contemporary portraits from newspapers, the
internet or textbooks.
When the pupils are done, a good idea is to let them tell each other what they found. Compare the
portraits and discuss similarities and differences. It is important to stress that there are no right and
wrong answers. Everyone sees different things.
After the analysis, pupils can go on to find out facts about the people in the portraits.
N
2. Fact-finding exercise
Following the first image analysis exercise, pupils can continue working on the portrait they chose
by searching for more information about the person in the painting. Use the questions from
Exercise Sheet O as a guideline. Ask the pupils to report orally or in writing on what they found.
3. Create paraphrases using collage technique
Continue working on the portrait theme by asking the pupils to mimic the person in the painting,
copying their body language, gestures and facial expressions. Take photos with a digital or mobile
camera. Print the photos. Printouts of the paintings are also useful for cutting and pasting (for
those pupils who want to). Use the printouts and photos as your starting point. Ask the students to
make a paraphrase, a contemporary interpretation of the portrait.
As the pupils to consider what the portrait would look like if it were painted today. Use the
questions from Exercise Sheet N as a guideline, and add the following questions:
•
If this person/these people were alive today, what would their portrait look like?
What clothes, facial expressions, body postures/poses would they have?
•
What kind of room/setting would they be portrayed in?
•
What things would they have around them?
•
What would the painting look like if you were in the portrait? What clothes, facial
expression, pose and gestures would you have chosen? And what kind of room or setting
would you be portrayed in? What side of your personality would you want to present?
Use a mixture of acrylic paint, felt tips, crayons, glue, or whatever is available, and make your own
interpretation of the portrait. Paint or draw. Also use the photos/printouts to cut and paste into
your own painting. Some pupils may want to include the whole photo of themselves, others might
want to use parts of it... anything goes!
Finish by looking at the pictures together and discussing them:
•
What has been added to the pictures to make them more contemporary?
Objects, clothes, settings?
•
Is the result a self-portrait? What does the picture say about you as a person?
4. What happened next?
Ask the pupils to write something, using one of the portraits as inspiration. This is easier if the
pupils start by analysing the portrait. This is an exercise in expressing thoughts in writing based on
a picture, and developing one’s creative writing skills.
Use your imagination to write a story about what happened after the painting was finished. Use the
following questions to get started:
•
What happened when the person in the picture got up and left the artist’s studio?
•
How did it feel to model for the painting? Was it boring or interesting? Did the person or
persons in the painting know the artist?
•
What did the person or persons think of the portrait when it was finished? What happened
to the portrait after it was collected from the artist?
•
Where has the portrait been before it ended up at Nationalmuseum? What was its fate?
O
1. Queen Christina as a Child
Jacob Heinrich Elbfas (ca 1600–1664)
Christina was the daughter of King Gustavus Adolphus and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. She
was born in NSOS. When she was only åtta, in NSPO, her father died in the battle of Lützen.
Christina became queen of Sweden. Throughout her childhood, she had been given the same
education as if she had been a male heir to the throne. She studied classical and foreign languages,
history, theology, philosophy and what would we would call political science. She also learned riding
and shooting.
This portrait was painted when she was around NO. A tiny body in a role that was several sizes too
big. She is wearing a costly satin dress with embroidered flowers, starched lace collar and cuffs.
On her head she balances a coronet, and her left hand grasps an ostrich feather as a fan. Her
neckline is bejewelled and she wears large, droplet-shaped earrings and hair ornaments. The
portrait includes the insignia of power, the crown, the orb and the sceptre.
2. Boy with Guenons and Parrots, 1670
David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (1628–1698)
Very little is known about the boy in this painting. He was portrayed by the royal court painter
David Klöcker Ehrenstral in NSTM. It is believed that he was an animal keeper at the palace. A
guenon is sitting on his shoulder, and some of the king’s exotic birds are also shown in the picture.
The king is said to have had numerous unusual animals both at the Stockholm Tre Kronor palace
and at the royal manor in Kungsör.
The artist Ehrenstrahl painted an impressive number of animal portraits during his time as court
painter. His assignments included Queen Hedvig Eleonora’s pugs, Charles XI’s dogs, marmots,
squirrels, polar bears, camels and elks. He also did numerous portraits and a great deal of the
embellishments for the royal palaces, especially at Drottningholm.
Charles XI appears to have held his royal court painter in high esteem, because he was knighted in
NSTQ. He is known as “the father of Swedish painting”.
P
3. Asmund Palm, Merchant in Constantinople, 1773
Jonas Hoffman (1726–1780)
In the NUth century, trade with the Orient was vital to the Swedish economy. Products such as
clothes, china, furniture, coffee and tea were imported and gave rise to new habits. Foreign and
exotic things became trendy and fashionable. This tendency also showed up in Western portraiture.
It was popular to be depicted in ancient Greek or Turkish clothes. The man in this portrait is
dressed in a turban, a striped silk caftan, an ermine-lined coat, a Turkish knife and beads and is
very trendy indeed.
His name was Asmund Palm. He represented the Swedish Levantine Company in Smyrna and
Contantinople (now Izmir and Istanbul). The Levantine Company had sole rights since NTPU on
Swedish trade with the eastern Mediterranean, including the import of raisins, figs, currants,
cotton, coffee, rice and spices. He was also the Swedish consul-general. With this portrait, he
probably wanted to show that he is a wealthy European merchant, and also to indicate what sort
of trade he is involved in. His clothes illustrate and underline his occupation.
The Swedish Levantine Company closed down in NTRU.
4. Self-Portrait, 1880
Elisabeth Keyser (1851–1898)
The intense gaze of the artist Elisabeth Keyser regards us in this self-portrait. In fact, it is not us
she is looking at, but her own reflection in the mirror. She is poised to touch the canvas with her
paintbrush. In the mirror on the wall, we see brushes and sketches, indicating that the setting is her
artist’s studio.
Elisabeth Keyser belongs to a generation of women around the NUUMs who defied convention and
went to Paris to become artists. She rented a studio in Montmartre together with other women
artists. Elisabeth Keyser lived in Paris for ten years. She had been there for two years when she
painted this self-portrait. After returning to Stockholm, she worked as a portrait painter. She also
started an art school, which she ran between NUVM and NUVS.
She died when she was only QT, from complications following appendicitis.
Q
5. Mill Owner Jennings, His Brother and Sister-in-Law, 1769
Alexander Roslin (1718–1793)
In this portrait, we see the wealthy mill owner John Jennings inviting us into the picture with an
elegant gesture of the hand. In the middle of the painting his sister-in-law, Jeanne Elise Trembly,
is sitting, and behind her to the side stands his brother, Frans. John Jennings is dressed in a red
velvet suit, with a freshly powdered wig, a tricorn hat, a rapier and the Order of the Northern Star
prominently pinned to his coat. Jeanne Elise has a tightly-laced bodice that forces her to sit up very
straight in her shiny satin dress. The front panel and sleeves are decorated with frills and lace. A
pearl necklace is fastened high under her chin. Frans Jennings has a coat and breeches in brown
velvet. He has an embroidered waistcoat and fine lace cuffs and ruffle. All three are wearing make
up and grey-powdered wigs, and they are in their best clothes. They had met up in Paris in NTSV,
where they commissioned this portrait by one of the most sought-after portrait artists of the time,
Alexander Roslin.
Roslin’s skilful, lifelike depictions of fabrics, lace and powdered faces made him one of Sweden’s
most internationally successful artists of all times.
John Jennings was a mill owner and chamberlain. He owned Skånelaholm and Forsmark mills.
Frans Jennings was a merchant. His Swiss wife, Jeanne Elise, is playing the cembalo in this portrait.
6. Oscar II in Coronation Robes, 1897
Oscar Björck (1860–1929)
Theatrical and in solitary grandeur, King Oscar II poses for this portrait in his crimson royal
mantle with ermine collar, edge and lining. The mantle is decorated with gold and silver crown
applications. He is wearing Eric XIV’s royal crown and carries a sceptre. The painting was made
to commemorate the king’s ORth anniversary as Swedish monarch. This is not a scene from the
coronation, which took place in NUTP, but a ceremonial portrait. Oscar II was the last Swedish
monarch to be actually crowned.
Sweden went through many changes during the reign of Oscar II. He himself tried to influence
the country in a more conservative political direction, and stubbornly kept up the ceremonies that
helped glorify his dignity and status.
When his son, Gustaf V, came to the throne in NVMT, he chose to decline the coronation ceremony
because he felt it was old-fashioned and not in keeping with the times. When Anders Zorn painted
Gustaf V a few years later, he portrayed him in a casual pose, in a dress-suit. Thus, this picture of
Oscar II is the last Swedish coronation portrait.
R
Exercise Sheet 1. Portrait Analysis
Having your portrait painted is a way of being immortalised, seen and remembered. Portraits are a
way of showing the world who you are, or would like to be. What does this portrait say about the
person depicted? Analyse the portrait! Use the questions below to help you, and discuss the
picture in groups.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Describe the clothes the person is wearing. What do the clothes/appearance say or reveal
about the person? Occupation? Status?
Describe the person’s expression, gaze, pose and gestures. What do they reveal about the
person?
Describe the room/setting. What does it tell us about the person?
Is there anything in the picture that seems to tell us something about the person?
Describe the objects and what connection you think they might have with this person.
Study the light and shadows in the picture. Is the light evenly distributed, or does it come
from a particular part of the picture? Is it natural sunlight, or is it coming from a lamp or
other source?
How would you describe the mood in the picture? Calm, dramatic, cold, warm, eerie, or
something else?
Read through your notes and summarise them. What does the portrait tell us about this
person?
Why do you think the portrait was painted? What was the purpose?
What do you think of the portrait?
Additional questions if you have time, or if you want to continue studying the portrait
•
•
What era do you think is portrayed? How can you tell?
Describe how the portrait is painted. Can you see how it is painted? Are there any signs of
brush strokes, hands, knife or something else? Is the paint applied thickly or thinly?
Exercise Sheet 2. Who was this person in real life?
Search for facts about the person in the portrait. Their names are usually given in the title. Look in
encyclopaedias or on the internet. If the portrait includes several people, choose one of them. If
the person in the portrait is unknown, use the questions below to find out more about the artist.
This can sometimes lead to clues about the person and the times when s/he lived.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
When was the person born?
What was his/her profession?
Did s/he have a family?
Are they famous or remembered for anything special?
Find out a bit about the time when the person in the portrait lived. For instance: Who ruled
the country where they lived? What books and plays that were written at the time? What
country did s/he live in? If s/he travelled, what places s/he visit? How did people dress?
Were there were any especially important events that took place during his/her lifetime
(wars, inventions that changed the way of life, buildings that were built, or other interesting
events)?
What aspect of the person’s life has the artist chosen to focus on?
Do you think this is a good portrait? Explain.
S
Queen Christina as a Child, Jacob Heinrich Elbfas
Boy with Guenons and Parrots, David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl
Asmund Palm, Merchant in Constantinople, Jonas Hoffman
Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Keyser
Mill Owner Jennings, His Brother and Sister-in-Law, Alexander Roslin
Oscar II in Coronation Robes, Oscar Björck
www.nationalmuseum.se
Nationalmuseum collaborates with
Svenska Dagbladet, Fältman & Malmén
and Grand Hôtel Stockholm