
Nils Dardel, Jean Börlin in Siamese Dance (1919) and The Dying Dandy (1918) Photo: Mattias Lindbäck/Moderna Museet
Conversation in the Collection: Pink Sails
Conversation
15.2 2025
Stockholm
Conversation in the Collection: Pink Sails
Matilda Olof-Ors and Erik Mattson on Rolf de Maré
Date
Saturday 15 February 2025
Time
14–15
Place
In the exhibition “Pink Sails”, Floor 4
Language
Swedish
Price
150 SEK, 120 SEK for students and seniors (entrance ticket included). 150 SEK, 120 SEK for students and seniors (entrance ticket included).
Free for those with an annual pass and other free categories Free for those with an annual pass and other free categories
Rolf de Maré (1888–1964) began collecting art in 1914 and built up an impressive collection of works by the innovative artists of the time. With the help of his friend Nils Dardel and his contacts in 1910s Paris, including the art dealers Wilhelm Uhde and Alfred Flechtheim, de Maré acquired art of the international avant-garde.
He also created the Swedish Ballet – Les Ballets Suédois – in Paris together with his partner Jean Börlin. The company presented ground-breaking stage art in collaboration with artists such as Fernand Léger and Erik Satie. In 1933, de Maré opened the world’s first dance museum in Paris, and later Dansmuseet in Stockholm.
Rolf de Maré was heavily criticised by the Swedish gutter press because of his unconventional lifestyle, and his art collection was ridiculed. Much later, he donated large parts of his collection to Moderna Museet. Through the donation, several important works by the international avant-garde were added to the museum’s collection, including Pablo Picasso’s “Guitar Player”. This and several other works are now exhibited in the exhibition “Pink Sails – Swedish Modernism in the Moderna Museet Collection”.

Pink Sails
Revisit the classics and discover new artists in the Swedish Modernism movement. The exhibition “Pink Sails – Swedish Modernism in the Moderna …
Swedish Modernism in the Moderna Museet collection

The Subterranean Sky
2024 marks one hundred years since the French poet and writer André Breton wrote the first Surrealist Manifesto. “The Subterranean Sky” is a deep …
Surrealism in the Moderna Museet Collection
