The Gothenburg art association
The Gothenburg art association was founded in 1854 with the aim of "awakening and maintaining a sense and taste for the visual arts".
About the archive
The archive of the Gothenburg art association (H 186) includes documents from its founding in 1854, until the 21st century. Beyond the statutes of the association, the material includes board protocols, member lists and exhibition catalogues, and not least a wealth of correspondence between the association, various artists and other actors within the art world. The letters are dated mainly from the turn of the last century onwards. Older, related correspondence can also be found in the archives of Byråchefen Wilhelm Bergs papper and Kammarherren Carl Lagerbergs papper.
The archive of the Gothenburg art association was provided as a gift to the Gothenburg University Library by the association in 1969 (acc H 1969:25). Several additional accessions have been made since (acc H 2006:15, H 2019:09, H 2021:19). Deliveries are made from time to time, as the association remains active.
Alongside Wilhelm Bergs papper (H 51), Carl Lagerbergs papper (H 72) and merchant Pontus Fürstenbergs arkiv (H 66), the archive of the Gothenburg art association provides a comprehensive idea of the art circles of Gothenburg from the 1850s onwards. All in all, the archive currently includes 136 volumes.
History
The Gothenburg art association was founded during a meeting at Börsen in Gothenburg on October 26th, 1854. Cathedral Dean Johan Henric Thomander was appointed chair, and editor Sven Adolf Hedlund was made secretary of the association. The aim was to "awaken and maintain a sense and taste for the visual arts". The first exhibition opened on November 21st, in the bathhouse rotunda by the Skeppsbron bridge.
In the first decade after the foundation of the association, the members grew in numbers, as did the exhibitions. Among the major exhibitions organised at the initative of - or in collaboration with - the Gothenburg art association, is the Konstnärs- och ritläraremötet in Gothenburg 1869, the exhibition of 1871, and the large exhibitions hosted in collaboration with Sällskapet Gnistan in 1881, 1886 and 1891. Other important exhibitions include the 1898 exhibition of French art, with works by Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, the exhibition of Matisse students Isaac Grünewald and Sigrid Hjertén in 1916, and the 1930s exhibitions by the Gothenburg colorists and the Halmstad group. In the 1940s and 1950s, artist Tor Bjurström exhibited his works on several occasions, and in 1954 there was an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the Gothenburg art association.
Read more
Website of the Gothenburg art association, Göteborgs konstförening
Göteborgs konstförening genom hundra år: [Krönika] / Kjell Hjern
Göteborgs konstförening 150 år [1854–2004], ed. Manfred Soeder, Fleur Privin-Palmé, Bengt Ellison