The Best of Danish Modernism

One of the Danish Modernists was Jais Nielsen, who at this auction is represented with a powerful self-portrait from 1916. It was this year that he had to leave Paris due to the First World War, but he returned home to Denmark with his suitcase full of inspiration and artistic drive. He has portrayed himself wearing a smock and sitting on a balcony in a fragmented, Cubist cityscape. In his hand, he holds a tool and an unfinished vase, and the work can be seen as the artist's desire to juxtapose two artistic forms in his work, namely visual art and ceramic art. Jais Nielsen created some of the key works of Danish Modernism, such as "Afgang” (Departure) from 1918, but in his own lifetime, he achieved much more acclaim for his ceramic works with biblical motifs.

Vilhelm Lundstrøm was also one of the key figures in early Danish Modernism. With his artwork, he breathed life into one of the most pervasive cultural battles ever seen in Denmark. The so-called "Dysmorphism Debate" had the physician Carl J. Salomonsen as its instigator, and he attacked modern art and diagnosed it as an infectious mental disorder. Seen from the vantage point of today, such a violent reaction to art may seem comical – especially when you look at Lundstrøm’s beautiful, harmonious and Cubist still life (1932-33) with a pitcher, comport and napkin on a blue background.

“Aarhuspigen” up for Auction

When it comes to sculptural art in Denmark, Lundstrøm’s contemporary Kai Nielsen stands as the great innovator. He also turned away from the naturalistic idiom and instead focused his attention on the work of sculptors such as Auguste Rodin and Constantin Meunier, whose sculptures he could examine closely in the collection of the Glyptotek. Despite his short life (he died at the age of 41 in 1924), Kai Nielsen was an extremely prolific artist and was especially known for his artistic decoration of the Blågårds Plads square in Copenhagen and a series of erotic female sculptures. At the auction, we have a version of the beautiful “Aarhuspigen” (The Aarhus Girl) from 1921, which you can also see at Aarhus’ major sports stadium. For many years the sculpture was also part of the decor in the well-known clothes shop "Nørgaard på Strøget".

J.F. Willumsen has rightly been called the most "provocative personality" in Danish art. He stood out with his symbolic, stylized idiom and shrill colours, and left behind a uniquely cohesive body of work. His restless creative spirit led him all over Europe, and his role models were Paul Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and El Greco. In the present work “Aftensuppe” (Evening Soup), 1917, we are invited to dine with the Willumsen family, who resided in the South of France during the First World War. Sitting around the table is his wife Edith with her distinctive features and the two daughters, Ingemor Gersemi and Anne-Mathilde. The powerful triangular composition is dominated by the yellow colour, which is contrasted by the red dress of the eldest daughter. She turns in an unnatural way towards her mother, and her oversized arm and claw-like hand, together with the light of the ceiling lamp, create a tightened atmosphere that reverberates in several of Willumsen's expressive works. The artist is playing with the theme of the sacrament, and this is a preliminary study for the final work with the same title from 1918, which hangs in the J.F. Willumsen Museum.