Frida Hansen. Southward (Sørover), 1903. Photo: Peter Pap
By Robbie LaFleur
Frida Hansen’s monumental tapestry, Southward (Sørover) was never exhibited in Norway. But for around 25 years at the beginning of the 20th century, many American viewers were impressed by the scale and beauty of her swans and maidens. Berthe Aske Bergh, a New York tapestry teacher, traveled to Norway in 1903 and purchased Southward (Sørover) from Frida Hansen while it was still on her loom. Until the time of the Great Depression, it was publicly hung many times, to great acclaim. Bergh was a Norwegian tapestry evangelist and she used the weaving of Frida Hansen to prove her assertion that Norway had an important tapestry tradition.
It was exhibited primarily on the East Coast, but thousands of Norwegian-Americans also saw Southward at the Norse-American Centennial celebration held at the Minnesota State Fair on June 6–9, 1925.
Southward hung prominently at the Norse-American Centennial. Photo: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
The following list of venues where Southward was publicly displayed is a work in progress. Although additional venues seem quite likely, this list represents those I could verify through contemporary newspaper accounts, accessed via newspapers.com. (If you have further information, please let me know at lafleur1801@me.com.)
Several of the articles gave glowing descriptions of Southward, and it was clear the tapestry was the star of the exhibit. When I started research on this missing tapestry, it was these descriptions that convinced me that Southward would reappear–that unless it was accidentally destroyed, it would never be discarded or forgotten.
1905. National Arts Club. An exhibit of pottery, porcelains, glass and textiles under the auspices of the American Ceramic Society. (April 19-?, 1905)
Much wall space is given to the Norwegian designs introduced by Mrs. O. v. I. Bergh, such as Frida Koehler-Hansen’s big hanging called “Southward,” with red-haired nymphs in regular ranks steering each one her swan-horse over the sea.”
“Keramics [sic] and Textiles: Exhibition of Porcelains, Pottery, and Tapestries by the Keramics Society.” New York Times, Thursday, April 20, 1905.
1907. Mechanics Institute (now the Rochester Institute of Technology). Rochester, New York. (March 18-31, 1907)
The largest and most expensive piece of this weaving would cover a whole wall of a good-sized room. It involves a color scheme striking in its pleasing harmony, and the thought is most attractive. It might be taken to represent the migration of birds, but perhaps has a broader significance. The goddesses of summer are returning to the south, riding on the backs of swans…the gray birds and their burdens are very graceful as they float on a blue sea on the way toward the land of summer.
Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, New York), March 19, 1907
1907. Shown at the Masonic Temple in Burlington, Vermont, under the auspices of the Klifa Club, a women’s social club. (November 5-7, 1907)
The Klifa Club will bring to the city specimens of the exquisitely beautiful picture weaving of Norway. An old art newly developed. The collection is the only perfect one in America and is owned in New York. A large Tapestry entitled “Soerover” i.e. Southward is the most important piece and forms the gem of the collection…One point worthy of note is the tissue of the veils encircling the heads of the goddesses, a difficult effect in the art of weaving.
Burlington Daily News, October 23, 1907
1908. Shown at the galleries of the National Arts Club, on Gramercy Square in New York City, as part of the Second Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Craftsmen. (Date unclear.)
The Magnificent Norwegian tapestries merit a separate article. These beautiful picture weavings were designed by Madam Frida Koehler-Hansen, whose studios are at Christiania, Norway. Her weavings have been awarded the highest prizes at exhibitions in London, Paris, Turin and other cities and are sold to museums and royal houses in Europe. The largest piece shown covered a wide section of the wall, and illustrated the old Norse legend of the flight of the goddesses from the cold Norseland to southward, taking the summer with them. The goddesses were represented riding on the backs of swans, through the waves of the sea. The broad border of this piece showed objects of sea life, shells, weeds, and coral.
Lovett, Eva. “Second Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Craftsmen.” The International Studio, February 1908. No. 132.
1909. Arts and Crafts Exhibition at the Maryland Institute. (March 13, 1909)
Representing the chief unit of interest in the exhibition is the great tapestry of “Southland” exhibited by Mrs. Oskar Von Irgens Bergh, who also sends a large exhibit of her beautiful products of the Norwegian School of Weaving.
“Private View Tonight: Arts and Crafts Exhibition Ready at Maryland Institute.” Baltimore Sun, March 13, 1909, p. 7.
1910. Twentieth Century Club Gallery at 3 Joy Street, Boston, Massachusetts. “Exhibition of Norwegian Picture Weavings.” (Held jointly with the Society of Arts and Crafts) (March 24?-April 4, 1910)
The principal work in the exhibition here is a large tapestry made by Mrs. Koehler-Hansen, which illustrates the old Norse legend of the flight of summer days…It is a splendid and highly original decoration. Hung against a west window, the semi-transparent passages composed of silver threads, which is a distinctive feature of this class of work, produce a singularly pleasing effect; and the entire color scheme is remarkably strong and harmonious.
Boston Evening Transcript, March 24, 1910.
1924. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (March?, 1924)
Three examples of the ancient Norwegian style of weaving tapestries, done by Mme. Frida Hansen, of Norway, have been placed on exhibition in the arts and industries building of the National Museum…The largest of the tapestries depicts a bit of Norse mythology, showing seven goddesses riding south on the backs of swans, taking with them the sun, heat, and flowers brought to the north to form the summer days…Woven in the same manner as were tapestries in the fifth and sixth centuries, these examples are said by experts to be far superior to the works of contemporaries of Mme. Hansen.
“Replicas of Ancient Tapestries Exhibited.” Washington Post, March 22, 1924, p. 14.
1925. Grand Central Palace, New York City. Architectural and Allied Arts Exposition, under the auspices of the American Institute of Architects and the Architectural League of New York. (April 20-May 2, 1925)
1925. Brooklyn Museum. “Norse Exhibition,” an exhibition in celebration of the Norse-American Centennial. (October?, 1925)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, October 18, 1925, p. 31
1926. Brooklyn Museum. “Norwegian Exhibition of Hand Crafts,” an exhibition of Scandinavian Industrial Arts marking the opening of a new wing of the museum. (Dates?)
The Milky Way is not exhibited here; however, the public must feel exceeding grateful to Mrs. Bergh, who secured the several handsome examples of pictorial tapestry that are now hung. “Southward is of great beauty; as lovely as “The Milky Way” or “Salomes Dance” or “the Finding of Moses.” It is a thing one will always remember, and love to dream about; the lithe and clean-limbed goddesses are sailing swiftly southward through the sea on the backs of swans. They are carrying back the sun and flowers which they loaned the North to make the long summer.
Bie, Katrine Hvidt. “The Norse Nations Seen Through the Brooklyn Museum Exhibit.” Brooklyn Life and Activities of the Long Island Society, Saturday, May 1, 1926, p. 15.
1927. National Arts Club, New York City. “Norse Pictorial Weavings.” (April 6-29, 1927)
1927. Hotel Astor, New York City. Sixth Annual Women’s Exposition of Arts and Industries.
The Norwegian tapestries drew special attention.
Two departments of major interest are the Norwegian tapestries display and the exhibition of 13 pieces of sculpture and 20 paintings by members of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors…It is in the former that the greatest encouragement for the feminine cause in art may be found. Then such rare and truly beautiful creations such as these Norse pictorial weaves issue from women’s hands, art and genius may be truly said to know no sex.
“Artists and Their Art: Women Fight Inferiority in Art.” Times Union (Brooklyn New York). Sunday, October 9, 1927.
No author is listed, but my guess is that he is male… The article goes on:
Her [Frida Hansen’s] finest piece on display at the Astor, “The Retreat of the Summer Goddesses,” was on view at the Smithsonian Institute in 1924. Depicting seven buxom and blonde Norse maids astride a like number of geese, arranged in a geometrical progression that savors of plotted harmony, the weave represents the departure of the Summer Goddesses from the North. Fleeing on their downy mounts, South by way of a silver-blue sea.
1928. Hotel Astor, New York City. “Seventh Annual Exposition of Women’s Arts and Industries.” (October 1-?, 1928)
An unusual effect of luminosity is obtained by the use of sterling silver woven into the dresses, the reins with which the girls are guiding the swans and the jewels in their hair.”
“Tapestry Work is a revival of Norwegian Art,” Muncie (Indiana) Evening Press, October 10, 1928.
1930-31. Toledo Museum of Art. “The International Exhibition of Modern Tapestry.” (December 30, 1930-January 25, 1931) Southward and Pond Lilies (a transparent tapestry) were for sale.
The annotated price catalog from the Toledo exhibit was in the archives of the Toledo Museum of Art.
1931. Brooklyn Museum. “The International Exhibition of Modern Tapestry.” (February 07-28, 1931). An insurance document from the Brooklyn Museum of Art Archives revealed that Southward had the highest insured valued of any piece, and the highest price of those for sale.
See the full insurance document: page one, page two, page three. Note: some tapestries with higher numbers are in francs.
One of the most famous contemporary tapestry makers, Mme. Frieda Hansen of Christiana, Norway, is well represented by “Southward” and “Pond Lilies”, both of which were designed and woven by her. She became known as early as 1900 and now her works in this field hang in royal palaces in Norway, England, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Denmark and in three large museums. “Southward” is lent by Mrs. Berthe D. Aske Bergh of The Weavers, New York. This tapestry illustrates a Norse myth of golden-haired daughters of the sun who go sailing southward in diagonals across a geometric sea after having brought flowers and light to the north. It is woven in wool and silver.
“Modern Tapestries.” Press release. Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. 01-03_1931, 017-9.
1931. Montclair Art Museum. An exhibit of antique and modern tapestries. (October 11-November 8)
Montclair (New Jersey) Times. Friday, October 9, 1931.
Southward was likely shown in additional venues
I left out some venues at which Southward was very likely shown, but which I could not confirm with certainty.
- 1904. I did not include the Waldorf Astoria in 1904. Anniken Thue listed that venue with a question mark in her catalog of Frida Hansen’s works, Frida Hansen (1855-1931): Europeeren in Norwegian Vevkunst (Oslo: Kunstindustrimuseet, 1973).
- 1929. Southward was mentioned specifically in articles about two of the annual Expositions of Women’s Arts and Industries in NYC, but it was likely displayed at others. An article about the 1929 show mentions “A very beautiful tapestry from the hands of the great Frida Hansen.” (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 1, 1929)
- 1929. Woman’s [sic] National Exposition, March 4-9, 1929. I assume that Southward was included because it was reported that works of Frida Hansen, “Norse tapestry varying in value from $400.00 to $40,000,” from the collection of Berte Aske Bergh were exhibited. (“Woman’s National Exposition.” Rolla Rolla Herald, January 31, 1929.)
Robbie, all of this research is so impressive–it’s textile detective work at the highest level!