Rita Kernn-Larsen

“It is a pictorial rendering, an evocation of one’s thoughts – often extremely strange thoughts – but whims of the kind that we are all sometimes seized by. Actually, this cannot be explained at all.”

Rita Kernn-Larsen’s (1904–98) artistic career began with Surrealism in partnership with the artists’ association “Linien” in Copenhagen, but despite being feted as “a female Danish Picasso” by the press at her exhibition début in 1934, she never gained wide recognition in Denmark. She exhibited, lived and worked in France and England for most of her life. Having experienced early recognition in Paris, she exhibited at some of the most applauded Surrealism exhibitions of the time, side by side artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Meret Oppenheim. 

For many artists, Surrealism offered not only an experiment with style and technique, but a change of attitude from the conventions of the bourgeoisie. It was possibly this break with convention that several of the progressive female artists of the time found so appealing. 

In recent years, Rita Kernn-Larsen has made a serious comeback on the art history agenda. In 2017, Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice exhibited some of her works. The following year, she was exhibited on Danish soil in “Women of Surrealism” at Kunstforeningen Gl. Strand, which was a solo exhibition curated by Kunsten in Aalborg in collaboration with Gl. Holtegaard. Finally, she appeared at Louisiana in the summer of 2020 in the distinguished company of artists such as Frida Kahlo and Meret Oppenheim under the title “Fantastic Women”.