Northern Lights at Beyeler Foundation

At the beginning of the year, the Fondation Beyeler presents the thematic exhibition “Northern Lights”, focussing on around 70 landscape paintings by artists from the Nordic Countries and Canada created between 1880 and 1930, among them key works by Hilma af Klint and Edvard Munch.

These artists all share the nature of the North, in particular the boreal forest, as a common source of inspiration. The seemingly boundless expanses of the forest, the radiant light of endless summer days, the long winter nights, and natural phenomena such as the northern lights gave rise to a specifically Nordic form of modern painting that exerts enduring appeal and fascination.

“Northern Lights” features paintings by Helmi Biese, Anna Boberg, Emily Carr, Prince Eugen, Gustaf Fjæstad, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Lawren S. Harris, Hilma af Klint, J. E. H. MacDonald, Edvard Munch, Ivan Shishkin, Harald Sohlberg and Tom Thomson.

Accompanying the exhibition, a new digital installation by contemporary Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen (*1987) is on display. In “Boreal Dreams”, the artist explores the effects of the climate crisis on the ecosystem of the boreal zone by conceiving virtual worlds based on scientific data collected through fieldwork and on gaming technology.

While many of these artists are celebrated in their home countries, they are likely to yield fascinating new discoveries for most visitors. It is the first time an exhibition is devoted to this particular theme in Europe.

–