While she is most known for her illustrations of tompten and childhood innocence, this exhibit reveals a more complex and complete picture of the artist. Nyström flourished as a classically trained artist who defied cultural expectations and classical traditions. As a student at Stockholm's prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Art, Nyström won Sweden's Royal Medal for her historical painting “Gustav Vasa som barn inför Kung Hans” (“Gustav Vasa as a child before King Hans”). Her depiction of Danish King Hans meeting the future threat to his kingdom, young Gustav Vasa, is distinctive in that it places Gustav Vasa, young and defiant, in the center of the painting. This defiance in the face of authority marks the heart of Nyström’s work in fine arts, which, as the exhibit reveals, blossomed during her time in Paris.

Nyström was taken with the Social Realism movement, which demanded that art more honestly reflect everyday life experiences. Her desire to show life as it existed is clear in her riveting Paris pieces. In “Nude Model,” she depicts the classical female form, but steals attention from the model's full hips, bathed in light, with a pair of dirty feet in the lower corner. Nyström’s “Self-Portrait” shows a strong, confident woman in assertive oils with an unwavering gaze directed at the viewer, no doubt an expression of Nyström’s experience as a female artist in a male-dominated and uninviting arts community. Nyström challenges the traditional image of dreamy and passive woman that were so common at the time. Using soft and airy pastels, Nyström’s “Gråtande Flicka” (“Weeping Girl”) is a daring woman with emotional depth and strength, revealed through her puffy and pink tearful expression.

Although her work in Paris won her critical acclaim, it did not, as is true for so many talented and visionary artists, pay the bills. Nyström’s work with illustrations in children’s books and annual Christmas magazines began as a way to support her family and burgeoned into a national phenomenon. Her paintings of idealized images of childhood, while contrary in content and style to her work in fine arts, define her career as much as her strong, defiant earlier works. The exhibit at the American Swedish Institute complements any Christmas celebration, and is compelling because it reveals Nyström's capacity to capture a vision of the world from two opposing approaches—idealism and realism—with equal power and grace. ||

Jenny Nyström: Mother of Swedish Chistmas is on display through Jan. 15 at the American Swedish Institute, Park Ave. S., Mpls., 612-871-4907. Gallery hours are Tue., Thu., Fri. & Sat. noon–4 p.m.; Wed. noon–8 p.m.; Sun. 1–5 p.m. Closed Mondays.