Concerns after the fire at the Academy of Fine Arts: “It will be expensive”

On Saturday, there was a fire at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

The historic building and objects from the collections were damaged in the fire.

  – It will be expensive, says Lena From, permanent secretary at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.Latest news clips from Expressen.

At 3 p.m., police and rescue services were called to the Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts. The fire was described as “extensive” and a major effort was made. Jakobsgatan and Fredsgatan were blocked off. So were the streets around Sagerska House, where the Prime Minister lives.

The fire is believed to have started in an electrical cabinet.

– The fire started on the lower floors and spread upwards, says Ludvig Sääf from the rescue service.

The incident is being investigated as gross negligence. There is no suspect at this time. On Sunday, the police conducted a technical examination at the scene.

The Prime Minister intervened

No one was injured, but valuables had to be evacuated from the building, something employees at the Government Offices helped with.

“Employees at the Government Offices are currently helping our neighbors at the Academy of Fine Arts by saving their art from the flames.”

Parts of their art collection will be temporarily moved into our premises while the post-fire extinguishing work is underway,” writes Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) in a comment.

Artwork damaged: “Getting expensive” 

According to the Academy of Fine Arts, the building and some art in the collections were damaged in the fire. This includes both soot damage and moisture damage from the extinguishing work.

The damage concerns the site-built interior, such as cornices and stucco, and the art that was evacuated to Rosenbad, which will need to be cleaned of soot. The extent of the damage to other parts of the academy’s collection is unclear.

– The property has smoke and water damage and some works have soot damage, but none are so serious that they cannot be restored. Nothing has burned down or charred. It can be stated that the property is still standing and that is a minor miracle. Staff, police and emergency services acted extremely quickly and professionally, says Lena From, permanent secretary at the Academy of Fine Arts.

She cannot say what art was damaged or how much.

– We don’t have an overview of that yet.

Now work begins on restoring the building and the works.

– It will be expensive and take time. We don’t know how expensive it will be because we haven’t had any overview of the scope yet. But it will work.

Has fire safety been breached?

– The premises have been evacuated, the art has been saved, no one has been harmed and the building remains standing. So the fire procedures that have been in place have worked. We are now awaiting the results of the fire investigation. If it turns out that there are further measures we can take to make the property even more fire-safe, we will take action.

Art from the 18th century

The Academy of Fine Arts has archives and collections from the 18th century onwards. The building itself was built in 1735. The collections include everything from paintings, drawings, graphics and sculpture, textiles, furniture and other objects.

The core of the collection is the so-called reception pieces, which are the works of art that new members submit as a sample of their work. The Academy also owns one of the world’s oldest collections of plaster casts of famous sculptures.

The collection includes works by Pehr Hilleström and the first female member, Ulrica Fredrika Pasch (1735–1796).