Prince Eugens Waldemarsudde in Stockholm is presenting the final weeks of ‘Det blommande – Konst & botanik’, an exhibition bringing together art, design and botanical material focused on flowers and the cultural meanings attached to them. The exhibition runs through 13 September 2026 at the museum on Prins Eugens väg 6 in Djurgården, with nearly 200 works spanning the 16th century to the present.
The presentation includes paintings, sculpture, photography, installations, craft and botanical books. Works have been borrowed from a large number of museums and private collections, alongside material from Waldemarsudde’s own holdings. The museum frames the exhibition as an exploration of flowers as aesthetic subjects, decorative forms and symbols, while also examining the role of art in the development and communication of botanical science.
Historical works include Dutch flower still lifes from the 17th century and botanical publications associated with Carl Linnaeus and his pupils. The exhibition page also identifies Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s ‘Blomsterstycke’ (1617), Jan Davidsz de Heem’s ‘Vanitasstilleben med dödsskalle, bok och rosor’ (around 1639), and Leonhart Fuchs’s ‘New Kreüterbuch’ (1543) among the material represented. The selection connects traditions of floral depiction with the classification, study and circulation of plant knowledge.
The historical works are shown alongside modern and contemporary artists, including Rachel Ruysch, Maria Sibylla Merian, Hilma af Klint, Lena Cronqvist, Cecilia Edefalk, Robert Mapplethorpe and Lilla Tabasso. The museum’s full list of participating contemporary artists also includes Anna Camner, Nathalia Edenmont, Lena Granefelt, Emma Hasselblad, Karolina Hägg, Georg Ragnar Levi, Roland Persson, Fredrik Raddum, Edit Sihlberg, Maja Stjärna, Miriam Vinay, Björn Wessman and Christine Ödlund. Johan Munter is credited as the participating florist.
According to museum director Karin Sidén, several contemporary artists created new works specifically for the exhibition. The museum’s presentation places these works in dialogue with early modern still lifes, botanical books and floral installations. The exhibition is supplemented by florist installations indoors and outdoors, as well as a selection of flower and nature motifs from Waldemarsudde’s collection displayed across all floors of the palace. The museum’s park and garden form an additional setting for the project.
The remaining programme includes Sidén’s lecture ‘Det blommande i konsten’ on 26 August, from 6 to 7 p.m. The lecture will address how flowers have carried messages in paintings and photographs and how they have appeared in craft across the centuries. On 8 September, from 6 to 7 p.m., artist Christine Ödlund will take part in a conversation about her work in the exhibition, moderated by Karolina Modig, editor-in-chief of Art Notes. Both events are listed at a price of 170 Swedish kronor, including museum admission. ‘Det blommande – Konst & botanik’ remains on view until 13 September 2026.
