In this exhibition visitors could disvover a blooming treasure of decor and design from the turn of the twentieth century. With his dazzling designs for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory, Gunnar G:son Wennerberg became one of Sweden’s best-loved designers around the turn of the twentieth century. The exhibition introduced him as a flower painter, manufacturing artist, and designer who allowed nature to move in. The exhibition was on display at the Gustavsberg Porcelain Museum.

In the exhibition Wennerberg – Nature Inside, you had the opportunity to explore the life and work of Gunnar G:son Wennerberg. Perhaps you've seen his flowers before, as winding decorations on vases and tableware in glass, ceramic and porcelain. Here, you had the chance to discover Wennerberg as both a flower painter and an artist in the manufacturing industry – a designer of form and decor.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg working on a large floor vase.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory, vase with plant motif in green, 1900. Flintware decorated in sgrafitto technique in light and dark green glaze.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory, Vase decorated with yellow flower, 1897. Flintware.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg together with engraver George Lowndes, for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory. Blue pot and saucer with lilies-of-the-valley, ca 1896–1899. So-called jasperware (stoneware) with relief decoration.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg for Kosta Glasbruk, Vase decorated with yellow chrysanthemums against a milky white background, 1897–1900. Cameo glass.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg, Autumn Flowers, Helenium and New York Aster, 1910. Oil on canvas.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory, Oval bowl Snowdrop, 1896. Flintware, painted in green and white with enamel paint.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg, Sunflower. Pencil and watercolour on paper. Part of a sketchbook.

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg for the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory, vase decorated with irises and leaves in yellow, green and gold against a light green background, 1897. Flint porcelain, painted decoration.

New ideas and artistic quality

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg (1863–1914) studied in Paris for a decade from the 1880s onwards, specialising in flower painting. In 1895, the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory commissioned him to contribute new ideas and design products of high artistic quality that would make Gustavsberg more competitive. Wennerberg worked for the factory until 1909.

Nature inside

Wennerberg invited nature into the home, so to speak. His painstaking, immaculately drawn sketches and watercolours of flowers and leaves were turned into dazzling patterns on tableware and artware. His patterns of common Swedish spring flowers, like snowdrops, liverwort, cowslips and lilies-of-the-valley, were particularly popular. After some time at the factory, he also developed innovative new techniques and modern artistic designs and patterns that brought the 20th century to the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory.

The 'window garden'

Gunnar G:son Wennerberg’s interest in nature and botany led to designs for so-called 'window gardens'. During the 19th century, the general became more interested in gardening. As living conditions improved, with homes now heated and sporting large windows, there was a boom in indoor cultivation of flowering pot plants and tropical palms. Seeds, plants, and bulbs from all over the world were readily available to customers. Nature moved into people's homes! Pots and pedestals became important parts of interiors. As a result, Gustavsberg’s range grew. Many of the factory's most spectacular goods from the turn of the twentieth century were designed by Wennerberg.

The exhibition Wennerberg – Nature Inside was based on Nationalmuseum’s collections and included drawings, paintings, and table-, art- and glassware. Visitors could also marvel at examples of Wennerberg’s interior designs, in the form of doors and walls that the designer painted for Henri Amic’s music room in Gouvieux, north of Paris.