Studieblad med Dalarfolk 1851

Wilhelm Marstrand made this drawing, Studieblad med Dalarfolk, with pencil on paper. Here we see a preparatory study sheet of people from the Dalarna region of Sweden. Marstrand was a Danish artist, and the drawing reflects the period's interest in national identity, and the way that the institutions of art came to be involved in its construction. Dalarna, with its rural traditions, came to be seen as the heart of Swedish culture. The detailed observation of folk costumes and customs became important to artists across Scandinavia, and was taken up by the national museums. It is worth noting that the Museum became one of the key institutions responsible for the fashioning of a national identity in the nineteenth century. To better understand Marstrand’s project, we can look at how the era's national romanticism shaped the art world. Such social and institutional contexts are critical to art history.