Art from the Danish Golden Age a Hit Abroad
On 6 March, a number of interesting works from the Danish Golden Age will go under the hammer when we open the doors to our first auction of the year in Copenhagen. The works up for auction include a ship motif by Martinus Rørbye, the preliminary study of which is currently exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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Works by the Danish Golden Age artists are in high demand – not just in Denmark, but also abroad. The “Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art” exhibition, which focuses on Danish art in the early 19th century, is currently on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition will move on to the Paul J. Getty Museum in Los Angeles later this year. On 6 March, the Danish Golden Age will also play a central role at our first Live Auction of the year in Copenhagen. Several of the greatest names of the Golden Age will be represented with works by artists such as Martinus Rørbye, C.W. Eckersberg, Christian Købke, Wilhelm Marstrand, Johan Th. Lundbye and Fritz Petzholdt. |
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“We are really proud to be able to present some significant works from the Danish Golden Age at our upcoming auction. It is a period in Danish history when art flourished like never before, and several of the works are excellent examples of this. The exhibition in New York shows the high level of international focus on and demand for Danish Golden Age. We are seeing a lot of foreign museums, art dealers and private collectors of art from the period among our customers, and several of the works in the exhibition were acquired from Bruun Rasmussen.”
Julie Arendse VossHead of department and specialist in fine art
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A Number of Highlights at the AuctionThe highlights of the auction include a painting by Martinus Rørbye entitled “Et stort skib under kalfatring ved Frederikshavn” (A large ship being caulked at Frederikshavn) from 1847. The National Gallery of Denmark owns an almost identical drawing of the subject, which is a preliminary study for the painting, and this drawing is currently on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting by Rørbye is estimated at DKK 600,000–800,000. Other highlights include C.W. Eckersberg’s “Parti fra Liselund” (Section from Liselund) from 1809 estimated at DKK 300,000–500,000, Carl Balsgaard’s “Københavnsk gadescene. Vinter” (Copenhagen street scene. Winter), estimated at DKK 100,000–150,000, Wilhelm Marstrand’s “Livlig trafik på Canal Grande efter solen er gået ned” (Lively traffic on the Grand Canal after the sun has gone down) estimated at DKK 80,000–100,000, Frederik Rohde’s “Parti fra Larsens Plads i København” (Section from Larsens Plads in Copenhagen), estimated at DKK 60,000–80,000, and Johan Vilhelm Gertner’s “Portræt af Adam Oehlenschläger” (Portrait of Adam Oehlenschläger), estimated at DKK 60–80,000. |
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“The works all represent some of the central themes of the Golden Age: the sea, the coast, the landscape, the city, the journey and the portrait. These are the same themes that the exhibition in New York focuses on because they are so important in understanding the significant role art played in the rebuilding of Denmark as a nation following the defeats to England, state bankruptcy and the cession of Norway in the early 19th century,” explains Voss. |
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Danish Art History at World-famous Museums
Julie Arendse Voss attended the opening of the exhibition in New York in January, and according to her, it was a fantastic experience to see works from one of the most significant periods of Danish art so beautifully presented at one of the world’s most famous and imposing museums.
“It’s always educational and refreshing to look in on one’s own art history from the outside – it puts one’s perception and inherited assumptions into perspective. The exhibition questions, among other things, our use of the actual term “golden age”, a label that posterity has given to the art of the early 19th century in order to praise it independently of external factors. The exhibition instead attempts to place art in a socio-political and economic context, examining and underlining the importance of the art to the rebuilding of a new national identity and self-awareness following the disasters at the beginning of the century, when, in a very short space of time, Denmark went from being a key political power internationally to being a small, reduced and marginalised country on the edge of Europe,” she clarifies.
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The “Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art” exhibition can be experienced at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until 16 April. Read more about the exhibition here.
The exhibition will then move to Los Angeles, where it will be displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum – also known as The Getty – from 23 May to 20 August 2023.
Join us for the opening presentation at the first preview of the year – “New Perspectives on the Danish Golden Age”
On Thursday 2 March, you can learn more about the Danish Golden Age when Bruun Rasmussen opens the doors to its preview in Copenhagen. Hanne Støvring, the executive director of AFSMK (American Friends of the National Gallery of Denmark) and art specialist Julie Arendse Voss from Bruun Rasmussen will talk about the Danish Golden Age from an international perspective.
The doors to the preview open at 3 pm on 2 March, and the opening lecture begins at 5 pm. Everyone is welcome!
For further information, please contact:
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Julie Arendse VossJulie Arendse VossHead of department / 19th Century & Old Master Paintings / København |