Aesthetical thinking
After almost a decade travelling in Europe Ellen Key decided to return home to Sweden. She wished to build a villa, where her aesthetical and practical ideals could be fulfilled. As many of her contemporary art theorists, Key argued in her texts for the role of beauty in everyday life of people, convinced that the way we organize our homes and surroundings play an important role in our overall well-being. The home at Strand is a testament of these ideas. A lease of land on the south slopes of Omberg mountain by lake Vättern was obtained and she moved in on her birthday the 11:th of December 1910. Key’s wish was that the house should serve as a summer vacation home for working class women from Stockholm. To ensure that the house was preserved and used according to this will, she entrusted it to a foundation, which still runs the house today as a museum and guesthouse.
The issue of beauty was immanent in Ellen Key’s critical thought and writings and was developed and discussed continuously throughout her life, from her twenties and onwards. Her own aesthetical development had as its source her readings of Swedish philosopher, art theorist, and military officer Carl August Ehrensvärd’s writings, and was also greatly influenced by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s ideas. The argument for the transformative power of beauty that Key put forward was in line with the ideas of contemporary art theorists such as John Ruskin, Willliam Morris and Alfred Lichtwark among others. She shared their emphasis on the artist’s craftmanship and art appreciation in the modern world.
The impact of Ellen Key on aesthetical ideals over the last century cannot be overestimated. She is considered to be a forerunner to the Swedish “folkhemsideal”, an aesthetical and social ideal within the emerging welfare state, and an inspiration to major design companies and influencers of today. Visitors continue to flock at villa Strand and the number of applicants for the scholarship has doubled during the beginning of the 21’s century. Authors and researchers have noticed an increasing numbers in the audiences when lecturing on Ellen Key. The topic asked for, moreover, usually concerns her aesthetical thinking such as in Beauty for all, and her ideals and life at Strand. This together with new publications, both academic and popular novels, art and design exhibitions, student projects and more continue to develop and increase the interest for Strand, its famous founder and her intellectual and aesthetical legacy.