Art of Scandinavia

A place of perpetual midnight and darkness, so far north it was often left off the map of world civilizations. Scandinavia’s art, literature and philosophy have often been overlooked in favor of that of the warm, sunny, south. Art expert Andrew Graham-Dixon dons his thermals to discover what we’ve been missing, starting with that chilling glimpse of Norwegian nightmare, The Scream by Edvard Munch.

From The Emperor’s New Clothes to The Little Mermaid – brightly painted automata re-enact the masterful fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen on an eye-catching ride in Denmark’s Tivoli Gardens. It might look cheerful, but, as British historian Andrew Graham-Dixon discovers, Anderson’s fictions are disturbing: tortured lovers, deranged tyrants and the premature death of innocents.

They were scared of the future. There was only one thing to do: take control of it… Andrew Graham-Dixon introduces us to a Sweden whose artists faced the 20th century with anxiety and dread, but designed their way out of the problem – creating what they hoped would be a perfect world. A fascinating insight into one of the most extraordinary social and artistic experiments in modern history.