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When Alfred Lichtwark (1852-1914) was appointed director of the Hamburg Kunsthalle in 1886 he set about reorganising the museum's art collections in order to create a modern museum and pave the way for a cautious approach to impressionism. He invited to Hamburg for this purpose many avant-guarde artists from Germany and elsewhere such as Max Liebermann, Leopold von Kalckreuth, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and others, to paint local motifs. The Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860-1920) was one of the first guests, being expected to give a model for modern colourism. His watercolour, The Port of Hamburg, was signed in 1891. Strangely enough, it was not integrated into the museum's collection until 1901. The first part of the present paper deals with the question of why Zorn's picture "disappeared" for a ten year period. Comparisons with other paintings that suffered a similar fate throughout the 1890's backed up by a study of archive material give an indication that Zorn's watercolour did not conform to the conservative tastes of the public at the time. So Zorn never became a famous name in connection with Hamburg's collection of local motifs. Nevertheless, The Port of Hamburg deserves attention because it seemes to shed a light on the cultural and political conflicts that Lichtwark had to face in order to support the development of modern art in Hamburg. On the other hand, as the second part of this paper points out, Lichtwark succeeded very effectively in introducing Zorn's engraved works as a model for modern art. The Kunsthalle collection of Zorn's etchings rose to international prominence. Famous personalities such as Gustav Schiefler and Aby Warburg supported Lichtwark's endeavour in this field. By 1910 the Hamburg Kunsthalle was in the position to own one of the most comprehensive German public collections of Zorn's etchings. The local press was also won over by Lichtwark's preferences and wrote frequently about Zorn's participation in various exhibitions. Influential privat collectors purchased Zorn's engraved works and the Commeter art gallery in Hamburg met demand for his etchings all over Germany. It is noteworthy that Zorn's art reached the pinnacle of its reputation at a time when the master engraver was no longer in the forefront of modern art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a theory of the interpretation of artistic images. The thesis is that such interpretations operate as metaphors. The method is shown through an analysis of a late work by Henri Matisse—the "Apollon", 1953 (now owned by the Modern Museum in Stockholm). Firstly, two earlier interpretations are analysed to show how different views can be regarded as consistent and illuminating but nevertheless conflict deeply with each other. Then, the main interpretation undertaken in this article is pursued to show how artistic images are understood through patterns of interaction. The features of the image are seen to interact with meaningful material of different kinds—the comparative material of interpretation set in motion by the most dominant features of the picture as a whole. The dominant features chosen are: the title "Apollon" (joining the picture with the tradition of representations and myths concerning this God); the image of the sun; the image of the face and a possible hidden "body"; the principle of symmetry and dynamism in the pictorial organization; the principle of oneness as opposed to multiplicity; the fact that Matisse was 84 years old and approaching death when the picture was made; the fact that the picture is a paper cut-out with painted elements. The work is seen to deal with themes concerning the creative process in art as such and to develop, into modern terms, a classical French tradition oriented towards the sources of Mediterranean culture. Each time the picture is held to interact with the comparative material through the different dominant features, a special pattern of meaning is stressed. The picture interacts with the comparative material and the different patterns of meaning also interact. These processes of interaction are analysed as equivalent to the process of achieving meaning through metaphor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature on late 19th century art in the Northern Countries the question of its ties with Germany and German art has generally been neglected. The period is understood as dominated by Paris - German centers like Düsseldorf, Munich and Berlin according to this opinion represented old fashioned and even obsolete styles and attitudes towards art. This is of course an oversimplified and rather naive view of the art historical situation in Europe around 1900. The traditionally strong economical and cultural links between the Scandinavian countries and Central Europe, the position of German as the first foreign language learnt at school, the attraction caused by the dynamic economical development of Germany after its unification in 1870 and the development of Berlin into a major metropolis could not have been without influence on Scandinavian art. In my paper which was read as an introduction to the symposium I try to outline some of the central problems concerning such connections and the investigation into them. First of all I think it is important to remember not to treat international connections in the field of culture as one way influences but as a matter of mutual exchange; the question is not only what Scandinavian artists may have seen or whom they may have met abroad but also which impact their art or their personality may have had there. It is also useful to remember that receiving influences does not mean playing the passive but the active role of the game. Influence or reception is a matter of looking around, accepting or rejecting, assimilating etc. and not of being marked by an external force. An interesting question which needs further study is the representation of Scandinavian artists at German Exhibitions and their commercial success. Many artists like P.S. Krøyer, A. Zorn or W. Hammershøi, to mention only a few, were shown in Germany almost every year throughout the 1890s and during the first years of the new century, and their works were generally favourably reviewed by the German critics. This however should not be interpreted only as a tribute to the intrinsic qualities of their art, it also has a lot to do with the specific cultural situation in Germany and with the part the idea of Northern culture played in it. As soon as German museums and private collections gave up their politically determined resistance against French modernism the star of Northern art rapidly faded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]