The National Gallery of Denmark Exhibits its Rehung European Art 1300-1800

Written by Nicklas Silberbauer Monday, 28 November 2011 00:06

Copenhagen.- The National Gallery of Denmark is proud to present "European Art 1300-1800", on view from November 26th. "European Art 1300-1800" constitutes stage two of a major reinvention and revitalisation of the collections at the National Gallery of Denmark. The spring of 2011 saw the opening of stage one with the display of "Danish and Nordic Art 1750-1900" and "French Art 1900-30”, and on 31 March 2012 the range of new displays will be complete with the opening of ”Danish and International Art after 1900”. This exhibition features the older European art housed at the National Gallery of Denmark, which constitutes the oldest art collection in Denmark and has roots going all the way back to the private collections of the kings of Denmark.

From the early 16th century up until the abolishment of absolute monarchy in 1848 the kings acquired the art themselves and so left their personal imprint on the collection; and, as is only to be expected, they did so with varying degrees of passion and a more or less sure eye for quality. For this reason the collection encompasses the masterful and the mediocre alike, but by virtue of its tremendous scope – and recent, judicious acquisitions – it is uniquely representative within many areas. Overall, "European Art 1300-1800" is arranged in order of chronology and country of origin, thereby allowing for a relatively easy overview of and insight into the tremendous wealth of material. You are initially offered a choice of three different routes through the five centuries of art, which place especial emphasis on Italian, Dutch, Flemish, French, Spanish, and German art.

The three routes each outline different movements within the arts and also point to crucial chapters within the collection’s history. Naturally, "European Art 1300-1800" offers a welcome opportunity to reacquaint yourself with important masterpieces by some of the leading figures within art history such as Mantegna, Titian, El Greco, Jordaens, and Bernini. Artists such as Lucas Cranach, Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt also command special attention in this display, where their works are presented in a monographic setting alongside works by their pupils or by artists from the same scene or circle. Conversely, the display also presents undercurrents within the art scene as well as some of those artists who have been standing in the shadow of well-known masters. Similarly, the display encompasses examples of motifs that are very rarely treated within the arts, e.g. depictions from the colonies in Africa and Latin America. All the new displays of the permanent collections share a common ambition: to ensure that historical material is relevant to and resonates with contemporary audiences, for example through new digital and analogue means of presentation, communication, and education. In tandem with the main outlines and routes through the display, "European Art 1300-1800" also presents particular focus areas that offer a historical or contemporary perspective on the art, subjecting it to a variety of gazes.


A digital desk provides access to films and information about the works; here, the artists Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen and Kaspar Bonnén are among those who offer new perspectives on the art. The rooms featuring Italian art focus on prevailing perceptions of what it means to be a human being through the ages, a theme which is addressed under headlines such as "From Type to Individual", "Moving Man" and "Travelling Man". In one room, a range of audio tracks offer you the opportunity to listen to five young audience members as well as a theologian, a psychoanalyst, and an art historian all commenting on and interpreting two selected paintings. The young Danish writer Julia Butschkow has written a piece of fiction based on a French 18th century painting. The short story presents life at the French court as seen through the eyes of little Prince Louise XIV, and you can listen to an audio version of the story while standing in front of the work itself. Last, but by no means least, the Gallery has created a family area among large-scale history paintings of biblical and mythological scenes. Here you will find a space and texts set aside for parents to read aloud to young visitors, and families with children aged 6 to 10 years can play "Match-SMK", an all-new board game that focuses on telling good stories based on works of art.

The Statens Museum for Kunst ("Statens Museum" or sometimes "National Gallery of Denmark") is the Danish national gallery located in Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches in and handles Danish and foreign art dating from the 14th Century till the present day, mostly with their origins in western culture circles. As far as the Danish art is concerned the museum must invest in and maintain representative collections. The collection of the Danish National Gallery originates in the Art Chamber (Danish: Kunstkammeret) of the Danish monarchs. The most important purchase during Morell's term as Keeper was "Christ as the Suffering Redeemer" by Andrea Mantegna. Since then a great variety of purchases have been made. During the 19th century the works were almost exclusively by Danish artists, and for this reason the Museum has an unrivalled collection of paintings from the so-called Danish Golden Age. That the country was able to produce pictures of high artistic quality was something new, and a consequence of the establishment of the Royal Danish Academy of Arts in 1754. More recently, the collection has been influenced by generous donations and long-term loans. In autumn 1998, an extension was opened designed by the architects Anna Maria Indrio and Mads Møller from Arkitektfirmaet C. F. Møller. This new building was constructed in the park behind the original building and is connected to it by a glass-covered walkway, 'the street of sculptures'. The 'street' stretches along the full length of the museum, and within it concerts and dance performances are held. The old and new buildings are connected by one large-scale amalgamation between past and present. Facing the front is the old building and from Østre Anlæg is a new and modern building - seen from the side is a glass-covered street that connects the old and new buildings. The museum's collections constitute almost 9,000 paintings and sculptures, approx. 300,000 works of art on paper as well as more than 2,600 plaster casts of figures from ancient times, the middle-ages and the Renaissance. The major part of the museum's older collections comes from the art chambers of Danish kings. The museum contains collections of art dating from the twelfth century. In the older European and Danish collections there are represantations by Mantegna, Titian, Tintoretto, Breugel, Peter Paul Rubens, Jordaens, Frans Hals, Bloemaert, Gysbrechts and Rembrandt.

The modern collection comprises works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and Emil Nolde. Local Danish painters are richly represented with the styles of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Oluf Høst, Edward Weihe, Olaf Rude and Haral Giersing as well as the Danish sculptor Carl Bonnesen. Modern art is a substantial part of the Royal Collection of Paintings and Sculpture. The collection is representative, not only of Danish art history, but also of foreign art which has influenced Danish artists. Thus the museum has a considerable collection of paintings by Emil Nolde and an important selection of American and German contemporary art. The Royal Cast Collection consists of plaster casts of statues and reliefs from collections, museums, temples, churches, and public places throughout the world. The Collection of Prints and Drawings contains about 300,000 works: copperprints, drawings, etchings, watercolours, lithographic works and other kinds of art on paper. In 1843 the collection, which had so far been the king's private collection, opened to the public. When the present Statens Museum for Kunst was finished in 1896, the Royal Collection of Prints and Drawings was moved into the building together with The Royal Collection of Paintings and The Royal Cast Collection. Although the collection contains a great number of foreign works, Danish art makes out the main part of the acquisitions. Nowhere in the world can you get such a detailed and broad overview over Danish art from the 17th century until the present day. The works of the collection are shown in the permanent exhibition, the special exhibitions of the Department and, as something quite special, in the Print Room of the museum.  Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.smk.dk

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