As a complement to the story of how parts of the interwar architecture and painting were appropriated by official culture, this essay shows how visual artists in Sweden not only actively occupied parts of the market but also very successfully seized central positions within the state. The first part of the essay focuses on the vanguard’s triumphal advances in the market. The second part shows how the artists and gallery owners presented in the first part also gained influence on central parts of the state and thus succeeded in influencing the development of both the market and the policies of the state.