Harald Lyth
23 November 2013—5 January 2014
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23 November 2013—5 January 2014
Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum is proud to present a major solo exhibition of Harald Lyth. In this exhibition, Harald has chosen to show works from the period 2000-2013.
Harald Lyth (b. 1937 in Gothenburg) has had an impressive career. He attended the Konstindustriskolan in Gothenburg in 1955-59, before proceeding to the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 1960-65. Less than 25 years later, he returned to take up a position there as a professor of painting. Harald Lyth has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including a solo show in New York in 2009.
His designs for public spaces are grandiose, such as the monumental glass walls at Karolinska Institutet, the SEB head office in Rissne and the Bonnier House in Stockholm. In 1994, Harald Lyth created large, shimmering blue tapestries, measuring 11 metres in length, for the Posten head office. He has also designed numerous stage sets for Nationaltheatret in Oslo, including the sets for Strindberg's A Dream Play and Botho Strauss' The Park. In 2014, Nationaltheatret will perform Jean Genet's drama The Maids, with stage design by Lyth.
"In the early 1970s, it was already clear that I was no revolutionary or iconoclast. I had begun painting at an early age, and gradually realised that my preoccupation with Pompeian wall paintings and Italian early Renaissance was not shared by my contemporaries. I had to accept my constitution, and renounce collectivism and allow my own urges to govern my artistic pursuits. Even today, I am more in touch with Masaccio than with Damien Hirst, and a piece of charcoal fills me with greater joy than a computer.
Someone has compared our life journey with that of an oarsman: with our back turned to the destination of our voyage, we fix our eyes on the place we left on the shore. The destination is unknown, but the starting point determines the direction. This could be a possible attitude to tradition: our gaze towards the shore, the calm rhythm of the rowing that moves us across the contemporary waters. The water dripping from the oars is our work."
- Harald Lyth, Sept 2013
