The presented exhibit comes from the Dormition Convent, although the style of this piece is rather unusual for furniture found in monastic cells. Perhaps the chair in the Swedish Gustavian style belonged to a wealthy woman who, having retired to the monastery, furnished the cell with her personal worldly possessions.
In art history, the concept of Gustavian style does not refer to one or another pan-European style, but rather a certain period of Swedish art in the 18th — early 19th century. In fact, it represented a smooth transition from Rococo and partly Baroque to Neoclassicism and Empire.
The reign of King Gustav III (1771–1792) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Gustav IV Adolf (1792–1809) is considered the heyday of Swedish art. During those years, the Academy of Music and the Swedish Academy of Literature were established, which patronized writers; opera and drama theaters were opened in Stockholm. Gustav III’s personal collection included about 300 paintings by Rembrandt and his school alone and more than 14,500 books that he transferred to the National Library before his death.
Art historians distinguish the early Gustavian style that gravitated towards the French Rococo and the late, so-called domestic Empire style.
The aesthetics of the early style developed even before the accession of Gustav III to the throne. Traveling around Europe, the future monarch spent some time at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Returning to his homeland, he propelled the noble and expensive “Versailles style”, freed from excessive lavishness, into fashion.
The origin of the late period is connected with the king’s trip to France and Italy in 1783–1784, when neoclassical trends dominated the continent.
The combination of gilding with pastel tones, antique motifs, rounded or square backs and straight tapering legs of chairs, restrained carpet pattern or parquet in the spirit of marquetry, “marble” wallpaper or laconic stripes created a feeling of lightness and spaciousness. Even in such a restrained and democratic interior, the details signaled the “royal style”: the furniture was made of precious woods (ebony, redwood) and silk of light shades was used for upholstery.
In addition to motifs borrowed from France, the influence of England and Holland is noticeable in the Gustavian style: for example, tiled stoves played a big role in the interior.
Similar pieces of furniture are kept in the
collection of the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
