August Malmström, 1866 - Dancing Fairies - fine art print

Additional specifications by Nationalmuseum Stockholm (© Copyright - by Nationalmuseum Stockholm - Nationalmuseum Stockholm)

English: The moon illuminates a still landscape through which a river flows sedately. Trees appear as dark silhouettes against the sky. Hand-in-hand, the elves sweep like a wispy mist through the landscape, their movements like a ring dance. One elf kisses the surface of the water or is reflected in it. Like the others, she has long flowing hair and is wearing a garland. As a contemporary critic pointed out, you can either see the morning mist over the landscape as dancing elves, or you can see the dancing elves as a morning mist. If you choose to focus in on the morning mist, the elves can be explained as the movement of the mist. The painting can then be described as a romantic landscape, where nature is imbued with a spirit of its own. If instead, you see the dancing elves as the key motif, the painting can be described as a depiction of the fairytale world. According to Swedish folk lore, elves live in nature and are often seen dancing around hills, burial mounds, mountains and forests. People were warned to watch out for elves, as they made people ill. August Malmström’s Älvalek became a widely recognised image through versions and reproductions in magazines and illustrations. Månen lyser upp ett stilla landskap där en å långsamt flyter fram. Träd avtecknar sig som mörka siluetter mot himlen. Hand i hand sveper älvor som en tunn slöja genom landskapet. Deras rörelser liknar en ringdans. En älva kysser vattenytan eller speglar sig i den. Hon har, som de andra, långt fladdrande hår som pryds av en krans. Man kan, som en samtida kritiker påpekade, antingen se morgondimman över landskapet som en älvalek eller så uppfattar man älvornas lek som morgondimma. Om man väljer att i första hand se morgondimman, kan älvorna förklaras som dimmornas rörelse. Målningen kan då beskrivas som en romantisk landskapsskildring, där naturen framställs som besjälad. Ser man istället älvornas lek som huvudmotiv kan målningen beskrivas som en skildring av sagoväsen. Enligt svensk folktro lever älvor i naturen och syns ofta dansande på kullar, gravhögar, berg och skogar. Man skulle akta sig för älvor då de gjorde människor sjuka. August Malmström Älvalek spreds genom bearbetningar och reproduktioner i tidskrifter och som illustrationer och blev ett mycket känt motiv.

Article explanation

Dancing Fairies was by the Swedish artist August Malmström in 1866. The version of the work of art was painted with the size Height: 90 cm (35,4 ″); Width: 149 cm (58,6 ″) Framed: Height: 130 cm (51,1 ″); Width: 188 cm (74 ″); Depth: 12 cm (4,7 ″). Furthermore, this artwork is included in the art collection of Nationalmuseum Stockholm in Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden. The public domain artwork is being supplied with courtesy of Nationalmuseum Stockholm & Wikimedia Commons.The creditline of the artpiece is the following: . Furthermore, alignment of the digital reproduction is in landscape format with an image ratio of 16 : 9, which implies that the length is 78% longer than the width.

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