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Collections – from the 1500s to today
Go exploring among old favorites and newly acquired art treasures. The timeline guides you through the art, the museum, and six centuries.
Join us on a journey through the history of European art. Nationalmuseum's collections comprise more than 700,000 objects dating from the 1500s to today: paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographic portraits, crafts, and design. In the museum you will see a selection of approximately 5,000 of them.
The collections are presented chronologically, and follow an imaginary timeline through the building. This allows you to easily navigate your way through the centuries. Arts, crafts, and design are displayed side by side, providing a deeper understanding and greater perspective on the different eras.
Each era has its own large exhibition hall. Here, we present the main features of the art and the relevant cultural and social influences. The smaller, adjacent rooms provide space for expanding horizons or “deep dives” into the various issues that relate to the time period in question.
We want you to experience as much of our collections as possible, and therefore we will sometimes change which objects are on display. There should almost always be something new to discover!
Explore some of the highlights in the exhibition "The Timeline"
The Timeline
The 16th Century
In the 1500s, Europe saw a rise of central states with a strong royal power. Gustav Vasa was elected king of Sweden in 1523. He strengthened his power further by joining Sweden to the Protestant faith, and introducing a hereditary monarchy.
The Timeline
The 17th Century
The Baroque, an artistic style, with dynamic compositions, strong emotions and a direct appeal to the senses. The style originated in Catholic Europe but spread to Protestant areas and throughout the world.
The Timeline
1720–1770
Interior decoration of a new royal palace in Stockholm became a bravado display of French Rococo, but also a hothouse for local artists and craftsmen. The result was a flowering of porcelain manufacturing and silversmithing.
The Timeline
1770–1800
Johan Tobias Sergel’s stay in Rome marks a shift in Swedish art from Rococo to Neoclassicism. Other Swedes followed his lead, but it was not until Gustav III’s 1783-1784 Italian tour that Neoclassicism became established here.
The Timeline
1800–1870
The French revolution changed European art after 1800. Both crafts and visual arts were politicized, while classicism continued to dominate.
The Timeline
1897
Imagine you are a visitor at one of the 19th century’s great art and industry exhibitions. In a spectacular hall of glass and iron you wander around among awe-inspiring artistic and technological innovations.
The Timeline
1870–1910
The way we today experience consumer society and spectacle has its roots in the cosmopolitan culture of the late 19th century. Parallel currents existed side by side, there was not just one single art style or direction.
The Timeline
The Turn of the 20th Century
When the concept of the national state was established in the mid19th century it became important to establish a national culture and history. In the 1890s the National Romantic artists were able to record the works we currently see as typically Swedish.
The Timeline
1920–1965
A periode before the Second World War, when art and design is mainly for people of substantial means but a vision of a more equal society was forming. And after, when art and design, along with society as a whole became democratised.
The Timeline
1965–
The economic boom years of the 1960s in Sweden were followed by the recession in the 1970s, and the working conditions for the designers changed. Today, design has become a strategic tool and designers often reach status as international stars.