By Robbie LaFleur
East Coast friends! Please join me for a wonderful opportunity to view Frida Hansen’s monumental 1903 tapestry, Sørover [Southward], at Peter Pap Oriental Rugs in Dublin, New Hampshire. An exhibition and sale of rugs from private collections will be held at the gallery this coming weekend, with opening festivities (including a jazz band!) on Friday, September 29th. The show is timed for peak leaf season, a perfect time to visit Peter Pap’s extensive collections, only an hour and a half from Boston.
Frida Hansen’s tapestry will be a highlight. As Peter Pap wrote in his newsletter,
Many of you already know the amazing story of my discovery of the monumental tapestry by Norwegian artist Frida Hansen entitled Sørover in the collection of the late David McInnis. Now it is back in our Dublin, NH, gallery after hanging at LACMA and the Milwaukee Art Museum in the exhibition Scandinavian Design in America: 1890 to 1980. This exhibition originated in Oslo, Norway and my discovery hadn’t been made at the time of printing of the catalogue so they devoted a full page with a black and white photo from 1925!
Frida Hansen, Sørover [Southward], 1903
Lecture
I will hold a lecture on Frida Hansen and the wonderful tapestry of swimming swans and maidens on Saturday at 4pm. The Norse mythology image is of swans and maidens sailing southward after bringing summer to the northern lands. My stories will focus on what happened after the swans “swam” to America – exhibitions in New York and around the country, its disappearance, and rediscovery. The best part of attending this lecture will be the opportunity afterwards to ask questions and walk right up to the tapestry to understand its beauty and structure.
“Frida Hansen’s Southward Tapestry: The Sailing Swans and Maidens in America“
Peter Pap Oriental Rugs Gallery
1225 Main St., Dublin, New Hampshire 03444
Saturday, September 30, 2023 : 4 pm Eastern time
Reservations are not needed, but I’d love to know if you are coming. (lafleur1801@me.com) You can review the articles on Frida Hansen and the rediscovered tapestry here: norwegiantextileletter.com/sorover/
Instagram Live
In addition to the lecture, I will hold an Instagram Live session at 2 pm on Saturday, September 30, with Southward as the special guest. Please ask questions about the tapestry, request to see a close-up of any sections of the image (except those I can’t reach ten feet up on the wall), and share your comments and observations.
Instagram Live: @robbie_lafleur, 2 pm, Saturday, September 30, 2023, 2 pm Eastern time
And the Rugs!
Peter Pap will be offering rugs from the collections of noted collectors. Featured will be the remainder of the late Dr. Charles Whitfield’s collection, including his exceptional group of Baluch rugs. Rugs and classical fragments from the collection of the late Dirck Bass of Guernville, California are included. Rugs from the collection of Thomas Edwards of Rhonert Park, California, are another outstanding addition to this exhibition. All these the offerings are new to the market. Some of these rugs were in a landmark exhibition called “Tribal Visions” that took place in Marin County, California, in 1980.
Rugs in the show will be featured on Peter Pap’s website, peterpap.com, and on his Instagram feed, @peterpaprugs, on the days preceding the show.
Opening: Friday, September 29, 2023. Beginning at 5 pm
Peter Pap Oriental Rugs Gallery
1225 Main St., Dublin, New Hampshire 03444
RSVP to Peter Pap (917) 545-2318
It would be wonderful to see you here next weekend, at this gorgeous gallery, but with even prettier leaves surrounding it.
