Exhibited: “SOLO - Rita Kernn-Larsen”, Gl. Holtegaard, Holte and Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark, August 2018 - January 2019, reproduced in the catalogue full page in colours fig. 14. Provenance: Private collection, Denmark. Acquired directly from the artist. Thence by descent in the family.

In 1929, Rita Kernn-Larsen travels to Paris, where she enrolls at the Academié Moderne with Fernand Léger as her teacher. Since childhood, Kernn-Larsen had drawn and expressed herself artistically. She first travels to Oslo to attend art school, then continues her education at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. However, she finds the teaching dull and outdated, with a focus on drawing after plaster models, prompting her to journey to Paris in pursuit of an artistic career.

This painting is from Kernn-Larsen’s earliest days in Paris, a time of rapid study and development. She encounters the new trends showcased in the city's galleries and becomes part of a progressive international circle, where she is artistically challenged. At the Academié Moderne, Léger emphasizes compositional principles. The beautiful Still life offered at this auction is structured yet harmonious, made up of a series of detached fragments positioned centrally on the canvas. The red-blue palette, prevalent here, becomes a hallmark of her later works — until the breakout of World War II, where she shifts to darker, broken earth tones - still tuned to harmony and balance.

Naturally, there are many possible interpretations of a painting. The plaster bust could symbolize the classical culture and tradition she left behind in her quest for independence. In contrast, the blue flower represents fertility and growth — the dreams she strives for and the negotiation for a new feminine position as a modern, liberated woman.

In 1935, Rita Kernn-Larsen declares herself a surrealist, exhibiting in several groundbreaking and critically acclaimed shows in New York, Paris, and London, alongside Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Meret Oppenheim.

Rita Kernn-Larsen is an exception in the history of many female artists of this period. She earns her living from her art, achieving recognition and fame, standing side by side with her male counterparts. At the same time, she repeatedly reinvents herself artistically, which speaks to a strong personality with immense vitality and artistic curiosity.

We are therefore thrilled to present a wide selection of her works from various periods of her life at the auction — both live and online.