The magic of the Nordic summer night

The Washington Post in 1982: "Nothing has prepared us for the astonishing exhibit that goes on view tomorrow at the Corcoran Gallery. 'Northern Light' is so good it is scary. It will leave the viewer shaken".

The first time I saw Richard Berg´s painting "A Nordic summer evening" was at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington in 1982. This later iconic painting was included in the major Northern Light exhibition, which introduced Nordic turn-of-the-century art to wider American and international audiences. Berg´s painting, permanently on display at the Gothenburg Museum of Art, manages to convey the magic light of the Nordic summer evenings better than any other painting I know of.

Last night at about 10 P.M. there was something of the same magic in the air, when I took the photo below from my balcony. The blue from the Chinese wisteria added a nice blue glow to the scenery.

The music to listen to this time of the year is Summer night by the Danish composer Mogens Schrader. Here the song, which hauntingly catches the atmosphere of "the subdued light of midsummer nights", is  performed by the great Jussi Björling: