Carl Christoffer Gjörwell – A Neoclassicist Abroad

Wolfgang Nittnaus

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25 Foreword

Dr. Susanna Pettersson Director General Associate Professor

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between is published with generous support from the Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher Altar and Gallery, Fig. 9, p. 163). Friends of the Nationalmuseum. and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 6, p. 22). © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 2.0 © The Capitoline Museums, . Archivio (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Fotografico dei Musei Capitolini, Roma, Sovrinten- Altar and Gallery, Fig. 13, p. 167). Dagbladet, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, denza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. © The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Grand Hôtel Stockholm, The Wineagency and (A Drawing for Pietro da Cortona’s Rape of the Sarasota. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936. Nationalmusei Vänner. Sabine Women, Fig. 2, p. 28). (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between © Bibliothèque Nationale France, . Altar and Gallery, Fig. 19, p. 173). Cover Illustration (The Entry of Queen Christina into Paris in 1656, © Uppsala auktionskammare, Uppsala Étienne Bouhot (1780–1862), View of the Pavillon by François Chauveau, Fig. 2, p. 32). (Acquisitions 2017: Exposé, Fig 4, p. 178). de Bellechasse on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris, © Finnish National Gallery/ Sinebrychoff Art 1823. Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 47 cm. Purchase: the Museum, Helsinki. Photo: Jaakko Lukumaa Graphic Design Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, (Self-Portraits and Artists’ Portraits as Portraits of BIGG NM 7434. Friends – A Selection of Paintings and Drawings, Fig. 2, p. 72). Layout Publisher © IKEA. Agneta Bervokk Susanna Pettersson, Director General. (Spika and Tajt – Alternative Furniture for a Young Generation, Fig. 5, p. 88). Translation and Language Editing Editors © Moderna museet, Stockholm Clare Barnes, Gabriella Berggren, and Martin Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson and Martin Olin. (Henry B. Goodwin – A Visual Artist with the Naylor. Camera as His Tool, Fig. 2, p. 90). Editorial Committee © The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Digital Publishing Ludvig Florén, Carina Fryklund, Eva Lena image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson, and Martin Karlsson, Audrey Lebioda, Ingrid Lindell, Program. Olin (Editors) and Ingrid Lindell (Publications Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin, Cilla Robach (Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of Manager). and Lidia Westerberg Olofsson. the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style, Figs. 3–4, pp. 113–114). Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is published Photographers © Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm annually and contains articles on the history and Nationalmuseum Photographic Studio/ (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland theory of art relating to the collections of the Linn Ahlgren, Erik Cornelius, Anna Danielsson, Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and Nationalmuseum. Cecilia Heisser, Per-Åke Persson and Hans Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 2, p. 137). Thorwid. © Bukowskis auktioner, Stockholm Nationalmuseum (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland Box 16176 Picture Editors Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and SE–103 24 Stockholm, Sweden Ludvig Florén and Rikard Nordström. Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 3, p. 138; Acquisitions www.nationalmuseum.se 2017: Exposé, Fig, 3, p. 178). Photo Credits © Pia Ulin. © Nationalmuseum, the authors and the owners of © Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. (The Nationalmuseum’s New Restaurant – An the reproduced works. Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi. Artistic Collaboration, Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, pp. 149, (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator 150, 152 and 153). ISSN 2001-9238 Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher © Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 3, p. 19). (Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of © Teylers Museum, Haarlem. the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator Painting in the French Style, Fig 3, p. 112 and ArtRosa Depicting Bulletin a Landscape with a Philosopher of NationalmuseumIn the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Stockholm and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 5, p. 21). Altar and Gallery, Figs. 1–8, 10–12, and 14–18, © The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. pp. 155–172). Photo by Pavel Demidov. © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 3.0 Volumes 24–25

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 ACQUISITIONS/CARL CHRISTOFFER GJÖRWELL – A NEOCLASSICIST ABROAD

Carl Christoffer Gjörwell – A Neoclassicist Abroad

Wolfgang Nittnaus

Fig. 1 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),“Elevation de L’Hopital”, Elevation Drawing of a Hospital Building, probably 1786. Graphite, pen and ink, wash on paper, 257 x 293 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 123/2017.

In 2017 the Nationalmuseum acquired a Gjörwell was active as an architect from Arts in 1784, as a pupil of Olof Tempelman collection of architectural and free-hand 17883 until his death in 1837. His work in- (1745–1816). From 1788 he assisted Louis drawings, sketchbooks and documents cludes the Echo Temple in Haga Park, the Jean Desprez (1743–1804) with construc- belonging to the architect Carl Christoffer Queen’s Pavilion (now Haga Palace), and tion work in Haga Park on a Grand Palace, Gjörwell (1766–1837).1 The collection had the Garrison Hospital on Kungsholmen in of which only the foundations and base- been handed down in the family, via the Stockholm (now the Stockholm County ment were ever built, and other buildings. architect’s daughter Elisabeth Gjörwell Council building). In 1803, Gjörwell was appointed city (1806–1855) and her descendants, to the He began his studies at the School of architect of Stockholm. seller.2 Architecture of the Royal Academy of Fine

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After his years as a student at the Academy and an assistant to Desprez, Gjörwell made a tour of Italy in 1794–96. This was a study tour he had been promised by Gustav III before his death, and which Gjörwell paid for by taking an advance on his salary for the work at Haga. The purpose of the journey was to “study Art and be perfected in the Science of Architecture”, and to “acquire finer taste and greater skill”. The collection which the National- museum acquired in 2017 consists in large part of drawings from Gjörwell’s visit to Italy. It also includes a few architectural drawings from his student days, a sketch- book from his work with Desprez, indivi- dual sketches of fantasy projects, and a few drawings from his time as city architect. Another significant part of the collection Fig. 2 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),Sheets 22–23 in a Sketchbook of 31 Sheets, c. 1788–90. Pencil and ink on paper, 200 x 162 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, comprises sketches of decorative designs, NMH 180/2017:22–23. borders, frames and the like. Gjörwell himself labelled an envelope containing these drawings “Patterns and Miscell- aneous small Drawings”. In addition, the collection includes a sketch attributed to the French architect Joseph-Jacques Ramée (1764–1842).5 Gjörwell had met him in Hamburg in 1796, on his way home from Italy.6 Among the earliest of the drawings acquired are the ones Gjörwell made during his time as a student at the Academy’s School of Architecture, where he was also taught by Jean Eric Rehn (1717–1793).7 The drawing Elevation de L’Hopital (Fig. 1) is Gjörwell’s elevation drawing of a hospital building, which was the Academy’s competition subject in 1786. Gjörwell won a “Third-Class Medal” for his proposal.8 The building volumes betray the influences of both Tempelman and Desprez. In 1788 Gjörwell started work as Desprez’s assistant on the construction projects at Haga.9 One of the sketchbooks from his time with him contains several Fig. 3 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),“A View of the Lighthouse: Livorno and Some of the sketches of monumental buildings in the Mountains Beyond, 4 Aug. 94” Sheet from Sketchbook from Gjörwell’s Travels in Italy 1794–1796, 1794. spirit of Desprez and French revolutionary Pencil, pen and ink on paper, 210 x 170 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, architecture (Fig. 2).10 NMH 182/2017:9.

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Fig. 4 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),Fantasy View of Haga Palace Drawn from Memory on the Frigate Gripen Outside Livorno, 30 August 1794. Pen and ink, wash on paper, 190 x 252 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 89/2017.

The drawings from Gjörwell’s tour of Italy where there was an outbreak of plague. of them, dated 4 August 1794, shows, in from 1794 to 1796 can be compared to a After 19 days, the ship continued on its way the artist’s own words, “a view of the Light- travel journal, as most of them carry in- to Italy, arriving at Livorno in July 1794. house: Livorno and some of the mountains scriptions in the architect’s own hand de- Because of the plague in Algiers, the frigate beyond, 4 Aug. 94” (Fig. 3). tailing dates and locations. Gjörwell began had to spend 40 days in quarantine, some This simple pen-and-ink drawing his journey on 25 April 1794, sailing from way out in Livorno harbour. A number of records the view from the Gripen.12 One Stockholm as a passenger on the frigate drawings have been preserved from this of the documents transferred to the Gripen. The first port of call was Algiers, time, depicting life on board.11 One Nationalmuseum Archives is a list and

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Fig. 5 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),View of from Paradisi in Albano, 26 October 1795. Graphite/pencil on paper, 190 x 544 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 107/2017.

Fig. 7 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),Proposal for a Row of Small Shops. Elevation towards the Street. Proposal for the Norrbro Bazaar(?), 1830s. Pen and ink, wash and watercolour on paper, dotted, 40 x 171 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 137/2017.

transcript of the songs sung on board the his journey overland to Rome, via shows a pastoral landscape with a sunken ship while waiting for the quarantine to Florence, Siena, Bolsena and Viterbo. triumphal arch, churches, villages and, on end.13 During the same period of waiting, With Rome as his base, he then travelled the horizon, an aqueduct, while the other a few weeks later, Gjörwell remembered further afield, and in October 1795 he was two feature a trough of some kind and his time at Haga and now drew a view of in Genoa, where he drew a dizzying view antique-style objects. These drawings the Grand Palace, set in a fantasy land- of the city and the surrounding landscape serve as a summary of Gjörwell’s impres- scape that invokes a Swedish setting (Fig. 5).15 sions of his tour.16 By November 1796 he combined with Italian mountains on the A sheet that has been used as an enve- was back in Stockholm. In addition to the horizon. This view shows the palace that lope, addressed to “Baron de Jennings”, a individual drawings, there are two sketch- was never completed(Fig. 4).14 Once the friend of Gjörwell’s, bears three drawings books, also filled with impressions of his quarantine was over, Gjörwell continued of Italian subjects (Fig. 6). One of them journey.17

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From Gjörwell’s time as the city architect of Stockholm, the collection includes a design for the decoration of a tiled stove for the fire-damaged Wrangel Palace, from 1802.18 In addition, there is a proposal for rows of small shops (Fig. 7). Another example is a sketch from 1835, showing one of the designs for the triumphal gate that was erected in Slottsbacken on Charles XIV’s return from his journey to Norway the same year (Fig. 8).20 The architectural drawings and study sheets by Carl Christoffer Gjörwell acquired in 2017 complement the material linked to him that was already in the collections. As early as May 1843, the Royal Museum, the forerunner of the Nationalmuseum, purchased free-hand and architectural drawings from Gjörwell’s daughter Elisabeth.21 In modern times, two acquisitions were made, in 197022 and 1973. The latter consisted of the De la Gardie Collection, which was donated to the Museum, containing a smaller number of Gjörwell’s architectural drawings. As a result, there is now ample opportunity at the Nationalmuseum to study one of Sweden’s most industrious, but also most forgotten, architects of the Neoclassical era.

Notes: 1. Inventory numbers NMH 74–187/2017. The purchase was made possible by funding from the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Memorial Fund. 2. Carl Christoffer Gjörwell the Younger (1766– 1837); by descent to his daughter, Eleonora Elisa- beth Gjörwell (1806–1855); by descent to Gustaf Fridolf Almqvist, Judge of Appeal (1814–1886); by descent to his son, Viktor Emanuel Almqvist (1860–1951); subsequently by descent within the family. Auktionsverk, Fine Art & Antiques, 6–8 June 2017, lots 2301–2320. Lot 2304 included archival material as well as drawings. The archival material has been transferred to the Nationalmuseum Archives. 3. See Magnus Olausson, Den Engelska parken i Sverige, diss., Stockholm 1993, pp. 475 ff. 4. Ursula Sjöberg, Carl Christoffer Gjörwell 1766– 1837, diss., Stockholm 1994, p. 60, and biographical notes on lot 2304. Fig. 6 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),Three Drawings on an Envelope Addressed to Baron 5. NMH 109/2017, Sketch of an altar for the Fête de de Jennings: A Triumphal Arch in Pastoral Landscape, a through, and Antique-Style Objects, la Fédération, Paris, 1790: “l’Autel de la Patrie”. c. 1794–96. Pen and brown ink, brown wash on paper, traces of red seal, has been letter-folded, 6. Sjöberg 1994, pp. 74 f. 207 x 208 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 74/2017.

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7. NMH 83/2017, Sphinx and urn in front of a funerary pyramid, is a study based on Rehn’s drawing of the same subject, NMH 135/1995 (B I 46). 8. NMH 123/2017. Cf. Sjöberg 1994, p. 23, and Emil Hultmark, Kungl. Akademiens för de fria konsterna utställningar 1794–1887, Stockholm 1955, pp. 106 and 541. 9. Nils G. Wollin, Desprez i Sverige, Stockholm 1935, p. 62. 10. The sketchbook has the inventory number NMH 180/2017. The opening in question is NMH 180/2017:22–23. 11. NMH 174–178/2017. 12. NMH 182/2017:9. 13. Lot 2304 in the sale contained these texts in a document titled “Acta Gripiara”, which also includes a list of the crew of the Gripen and a short account of the voyage. In addition, this lot included the eulogy given by the priest at Gjörwell’s funeral in 1837, as well as various biographical documents. Some of the documents are from the time of Gjörwell’s father. 14. NMH 89/2017, “View of Haga Palace [i.e. the Grand Palace]. Drawn on 30 Aug. 94”. 15. NMH 107/2017, “View of Genoa from Paradisi in Albano, 26 Oct. 95”. 16. NMH 74/2017, which has been folded as a letter. 17. NMH 181/2017 and NMH 182/2017 are the two sketchbooks from Gjörwell’s journey. 18. NMH 140/2017. 19. NMH 137/2017 and NMH 138/2017 are identical proposals for rows of shops. 20. NMH 143/2017. 21. In the 1863 inventory of the “Royal Museum Collection of Free-hand and Architectural Dra- wings etc.”, in the alphabetical index, Cahier 37 “Collection of Gjörvell’s Free-hand Drawings”; further on in the inventory, under “Notes” on Cahier 37, we read: “Purchased from Mlle Elisabeth Gjörvell on 25 May 1843 for 50 riksdaler banko at the suggestion of the acting Director of Public Works, Colonel Blom. See Museum Minutes, 15 Fig. 8 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1766–1837),“The Triumphal Arch of Carl XIV Johan’s Return from Norway July 1844”. Cahier 37 includes inv. no. NMH THC in Nov 1835”, 1835. Pencil, pen and ink on paper, 418 x 329 mm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. 1840-1926. When the 1850 inventory was made, Nationalmuseum, NMH 143/2017. this small collection was kept in Cahier 53, with no information about its acquisition: “Architectural Drawings by Gjörvell…”. The “Royal Museum Col- lection of Free-hand and Architectural Drawings etc.” is now referred to, inaccurately, as the Tessin Hårleman Collection. See also Sjöberg 1994, p. 21. 22. NMH 41/1970 and NMH 42/1970 were among a number of architectural drawings bought from Åkers bruk.

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