introduktion til den danske guldalder - au pure · golden age. as expressed by constantin hansen,...

68 REJSEBILLEDER – TURIST I ARKADIEN?

INTRODUKTION TIL DEN DANSKE GULDALDERRESUMÉ

Dansk guldalder er en velskattet periode i den danske kunsthistorie, der rummer billed-kunst fra første del af 1800-tallet. Mange danskere kender flere kulturelle personligheder fra den tid: forfatterne og digterne H.C. Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, N.F.S. Grundtvig og Adam Oehlenschläger, billedhuggeren Bertel Thorvaldsen og malerne C.W. Eckersberg, Christen Købke og J.Th. Lundbye. Introduktionen til den danske guldalder giver et rids af det klima, som kunstnerne voksede op i – kulturelt og samfundsmæssigt. Vi stiller skarpt på de nye udfordringer, som netop disse generationer stod over for. Med et tværfagligt afsæt beskrives tidens kulturelle personligheder og deres respektive kunstarter, dels for at vise, hvor tæt forbundne fagområderne var, men også for at vise, hvordan de inspirerede hinanden.

KARINA LYKKE GRAND

PH.D., ADJUNKT I KUNSTHISTORIE OG VISUEL KULTUR VED AARHUS UNIVERSITET

ANNE METTE THOMSEN

UDSTILLINGSKOORDINATOR, CAND.MAG., ARoS

LISE PENNINGTON

MUSEUMSINSPEKTØR, MAG.ART., ARoS

TRAVEL IMAGES – A TOURIST IN ARCADIA? 69

INTRODUCTION TO THE DANISH GOLDEN AGEABSTRACT

The Danish Golden Age is a period in Danish art history replete with treasures, containing art from the first half of the 1800s. Many Danes know several cultural personalities from this era: the writers and poets H.C. Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, N.F.S. Grundtvig, and Adam Oehlenschläger; the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen; and the painters C.W. Eckersberg, Christen Købke and J.Th. Lundbye. The introduction to the Danish Golden Age gives an outline of the climate the artists grew up in – both in a cultural and societal sense. We focus on the new challenges which this generation in particular were faced with. From a multidisciplinary starting point, the cultural personalities of the time and their respective branches of art are described; partly to show how closely linked the fields were, but also to show how they inspired each other.

KARINA LYKKE GRAND

PH.D., ASSISTANT PROfESSOR Of ART HISTORY AND VISUAL CULTURE, AARHUS UNIVERSITY

ANNE METTE THOMSEN

EXHIBITION CO-ORDINATOR, MA, ARoS

LISE PENNINGTON

CURATOR, MA, ARoS

70 INTRODUKTION TIL DEN DANSKE GULDALDER

GULDALDERKan du sige mig hvad der kommer efter Kobberalderen? Guld alder har der aldrig været i min Lomme. Sølvalderen har hørt op og jeg gjemmer kun paa 3 Bajoc, for dog endnu at holde paa Kobberalderen saa længe som muligt. Naar Jernalderen kommer saa har man ikke andet i Lommen end sin Portnøgle.(Brev fra maleren Constantin Hansen til arkitekten Gottlieb Bindesbøll, februar

1839, Italien)

Dansk guldalder er en velskattet periode i den danske kunsthisto-rie, der rummer billedkunsten fra første del af 1800-tallet. Kunst-nerne, der levede i denne periode, var dog ikke klar over, at vi siden hen skulle komme til at betragte deres tid som en guldalder. Som udtrykt af Constantin Hansen havde der aldrig været “guldalder” i hans lomme. Han var i skrivende stund på dannelsesrejse i Italien og fattedes penge. Tiden var Kobberalder for ham. I Danmark var tiden ydermere ladet med krige og dybe økonomiske kriser, hvilket betød, at den danske guldalders virkelighed så langt fra var gylden – historisk og samfundsmæssigt betragtet. Betegnelsen “dansk guldalder” er af samme årsag et prædikat perioden først har fået senere betragtet på historisk afstand og med en vis portion nostalgi. Omkring år 1900 blev “guldalder” for første gang brugt i rosende vendinger til at betegne digtning og romaner skrevet i første del af 1800-tallet, men vi skal helt frem til 1940’erne, før “guldalder” betegner billedkunsten fra denne periode.1 I mod-sætning til de historiske begivenheder var det kulturen, der blev skattet som “guld”. Kulturens frembringelser blev med andre ord betragtet som en guldalder, da man stod midt i det moderne gen-nembruds virvar omkring århundredskiftet og søgte længselsfuldt mod tidligere tiders harmoni. Ikke kun i den nære eftertid, men også helt frem til i dag kender mange danskere flere kulturelle person-ligheder fra denne skattede tid: H.C. Andersen (1805-1875), Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), Adam Oehlenschläger (1779-1850), August Bournonville (1805-1879), Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), C.W. Eckersberg (1783-1853), Christen Købke (1810-1848) m.fl. blot for at nævne et par navne, som mange vil kunne nikke genkendende til. Kært barn har mange navne, og betegnelser som romantikken og biedermeier har ydermere været brugt som udtryk for tidens kunst. I dag bruges betegnelsen dansk guldalderkunst fortsat om billed-kunsten, mens kunstarter som romaner og digtning oftest betegnes som hørende til romantikken. Inden for billedkunsten gælder det dog, at de mere stemningsbetonede malerier, hvor land skaberne er skildret med en naturopfattelse, der fore kommer besjælet med “ånd”, også kalder på betegnelsen “romantik”. Og hvad angår interiører med borgerskabets familier, der samles i harmoni omkring hverdagens fritidssysler, anvendes til tider betegnelsen “ biedermeier”. “Dansk guldalderkunst” skal derfor snarere ses som en samlende paraplybetegnelse for forskellige stilmæssige strømninger og fagudtryk, der dækker over vidt forskellige motiver og malemåder. Fra det antik-elskende, nyklassicistiske udtryk, der ynder allegorier fra den romerske og græske mytologi, over det nationalromantiske historiemaleri der trækker på fortidens fortæl-linger, til en stadig større udbredelse af et samtidsrappor terende

INTRODUKTION TIL DEN DANSKE

GULDALDER

INTRODUCTION TO THE DANISH

GOLDEN AGE

THE GOLDEN AGECan you tell me what follows the Copper Age? There have never been golden ages in my pockets. The Silver Age has ended and I have only 3 Bajoc hiding away, in order to at least hold on to the Copper Age as long as possible. When the Iron Age comes then one has nothing in one’s pockets other than a door key.(Letter from the painter Constantin Hansen to the architect Gottlieb Bindesbøll,

February 1839, Italy)

The Danish Golden Age is a well-cherished period in Danish art history, containing the visual arts from around the first half of the 1800s. The artists who lived in this period, however, were not aware that later on we would come to regard their time as a shining golden age. As expressed by Constantin Hansen, there had never been “golden ages” in his pockets. He was, at the time of writing, on a grand tour in Italy and lacking money. It was the Copper Age time for him. In Denmark the time was, in addition, charged with wars and severe economic crises, which meant that the reality of the Danish Golden Age seemed far from golden – seen from a historical and societal viewpoint. The designation “Danish Golden Age” is, for the same reason, a title first given to the period much later, and viewed at a historical distance with a certain portion of nostalgia. Around the year 1900 the term “golden age” was used for the first time like this in com-plimentary turns, to describe poetry and novels written in the first part of the 1800s, but we have to go all the way up to the 1940s before “Golden Age” is used in earnest to describe the visual arts from this period.1 In contrast to the historical, factual events that took place in the period, it was the culture which was cherished as “gold”. The production of culture, in other words, was regarded as a golden age, as one stood in the middle of the modern chaos of discovery around the turn of the century and longingly sought the harmony of earlier times. Not only in the time following, but also all the way up to today, many Danes recognise several cultural perso-nalities from this prized time: H.C. Andersen (1805-1875), Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), Adam Oehlenschläger (1779-1850), August Bournonville (1805-1879), Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), C.W. Eckersberg (1783-1853), Christen Købke (1810-1848), and others, to mention a mere couple of names which many will be able to recognise. A dear child has many names, and descriptions such as romanti-cism and biedermeier have, furthermore, been used as an expres-sion for the art of the time. Today the term Danish Golden Age art is still used about the visual arts, while art genres such as novels and poetry are often described as belonging to romanticism. Within the visual arts it is true, however, that the more emotive paintings where the landscapes are depicted with a view of nature animated with “spirit”, are also known by the description “romantic”. As regards interiors with middle class families harmoniously gathered around everyday pastimes, the term “biedermeier” is used now and again. Therefore, “Danish Golden Age” art should rather be seen as a collective umbrella term for various stylised streams and a technical term which encompasses widely different motifs and painting techniques. From the antique-loving, neoclassical expres-

INTRODUCTION TO THE DANISH GOLDEN AGE 71

landskabsmaleri, der ender med at foregribe senere stilarter som naturalismen og impressionismen. Dansk guldalderkunst er derfor i udgangspunktet en rummelig kategori, der spænder over mange kunstnere, ideologier og kunstneriske udtryk (ill. 1).2

GULDALDERKUNSTNERNE Navne som C.W. Eckersberg, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Christen Købke, Constantin Hansen (1804-1880), Martinus Rørbye (1803-1848), Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873), J.Th. Lundbye (1818-1848) og P.C. Skovgaard (1817-1875) vil mange forbinde med dansk guld-alderkunst. Måske vil mange også nikke genkendende til navne som Dankvart Dreyer (1816-1852), Wilhelm Bendz (1804-1832), Jørgen Sonne (1801-1890) og Jørgen Roed (1808-1888). Tilsammen udgør disse tolv kunstnere ofte kernen i den traditionelle fortælling om den danske guldalders billed- og skulpturkunst, og de spiller også en cen-tral rolle for denne bog såvel som udstilling. Blandt de mindre frem-hævede kunstnere finder vi fx Hermann Ernst Freund (1786-1840), C.A. Jensen (1792-1870), Lorenz Frølich (1820-1908), Frederik Sødring (1809-1862), Ditlev Blunck (1798-1854), J.V. Gertner (1818-1871), Anton Melbye (1818-1875), C.F. Sørensen (1818-1879),

sion, fond of allegories from Roman and Greek mythology, to the historical paintings of romantic nationalism, drawing on the narra-tives of the past to a greater extent than landscape paintings, which report on the present and end by anticipating later styles such as naturalism and impressionism. As a starting point, Danish Golden Age art is, therefore, a capacious category stretching over many artists, ideologies and artistic expressions (ill. 1).2

GOLDEN AGE ARTISTS Many will associate names such as C.W. Eckersberg, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Christen Købke, Constantin Hansen (1804-1880), Martinus Rørbye (1803-1848), Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873), J.Th. Lundbye (1818-1848) and P.C. Skovgaard (1817-1875) with Danish Golden Age art. Many may also be familiar with names such as Dankvart Dreyer (1816-1852), Wilhelm Bendz (1804-1832), Jørgen Sonne (1801-1890) and Jørgen Roed (1808-1888). Together these twelve artists often constitute the core of the traditional narrative on Danish Golden Age picture and sculpture art, and they also play a central role in this book as well as the exhibition. Amongst the lesser prominent artists we find, for example, Hermann Ernst

[ill. 1] Frederik Sødring, Parti af Marmorpladsen med ruinerne af den ufuldførte Frederikskirke (View of the Marble Square with the Ruins of the Uncompleted Frederik’s Church), 1835. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 77,5 x 98 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst.


[ill. 4] P.C. Skovgaard, Maleren J.Th. Lundbye (The Artist J.Th. Lundbye), 1841. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 29,5 x 24 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst.

[ill. 2] Wilhelm Marstrand, Maleren Christen Købke (The Artist Christian Købke), 1839. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 23 x 20 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst.

[ill. 5] Dankvart Dreyer, Selvportræt (Self-portrait), 1838. Olie på træ / Oil on wood, 28 x 21,6 cm. Odense Bys Museer.

[ill. 3] Wilhelm Marstrand, Portræt af P.C. Skovgaard (Portrait of P.C. Skovgaard), 1866. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 48,5 x 39,8 cm. Skovgaard Museet.


[ill. 8] Christen Købke, Portræt af Wilhelm Bendz (Portrait of Wilhelm Bendz), 1830. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 22 x 19 cm. The National Gallery, London.

[ill. 6] Wilhelm Marstrand, Portræt af Jørgen Sonne (Portrait of Jørgen Sonne), 1851. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 46,3 x 37,6 cm. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum.

[ill. 9] Lorenz Frølich, Selvportræt (Self-portrait), 1850’erne / 1850s. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 22 x 18 cm. Privateje / Private collection.

[ill. 7] Wilhelm Marstrand, Selvportræt (Self-portrait), 1853. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 44 x 33 cm. Privateje / Private collection.


Ditlev Martens (1795-1864), Christen Dalsgaard (1824-1907), Thorald Brendstrup (1812-1883), C.D. Gebauer (1777-1831), Godtfred Rump (1816-1880), H.G.F. Holm (1803-1861), Anton E. Kieldrup (1827-1869) og Hermann Carmiencke (1810-1867) (ill. 2-9).3 Mange af disse kunstnere vil også være repræsenterede på udstil-lingen. Denne lange opremsning af kunstnere, der har stået i hen-holdsvis centrum for positiv opmærksomhed og i glemslens mere skyggefulde side, burde sige noget om deres kunstneriske kvalite-ter og deres produk tioners omfang.4 Men sådan var og er det ikke altid. Vægtningen mellem centrum og periferi siger mindst lige så meget om, hvordan synet på guldalderkunstnerne rodfæstede sig i anden del af 1800-tallet. Eftertidens kunsthistoriske vurderinger af kvalitet i guldalderen var snarere farvet af, i hvor høj grad kunst-nernes relationer til tidens magtfulde kulturpersonlig heder var posi-tiv, og i hvor høj grad de opfyldte disses krav til billed kunstneriske kriterier. Særligt en person, der agerede samtidig med guldalder-kunstnerne, må fremhæves her: kunsthistorikeren N.L. Høyen (1798-1870). Han var på en og samme tid kritiker, lære mester, ind-køber og formidler, og hans betydning i samtiden var derfor uvur-derlig. Høyens udlægning af hvilke motiver og malemåder, der var bedst og ikke mindst hvilke kunstnere, der til fulde efterlevede hans billed dogmer, fik betydning i den henseende, at netop disse kunstnere blev tilgodeset, fremhævet og hjulpet på vej i deres kar-rierer i Høyens magtfulde netværk. Høyens “guldalder” er stadig enslydende med vores nutidige opfattelse af den ypperste guld-alderkunst, idet efter tiden mere eller mindre har overtaget Høyens æstetiske smagsdomme med hensyn til, hvem der var inde i var-men, og hvem der retmæssigt hørte til i kulden.5 Denne udstilling og bog søger ikke at påstå, at vi viser et helt andet og nyt billede af guld alderen end det, der dannede sig i tiden. Men vi har haft som intention at forsøge at udjævne forskellene mellem centrum og periferi, således at der ikke kun vises velkendte værker af velkendte kunstnere. Via bogens og udstillingens temaer til stræber vi at belyse emner, der ikke så hyppigt er blevet behandlet i en kunsthistorisk kontekst, eksempelvis samfundets udvikling, opfindelser og forandringer. Her er det ofte blandt de mindre kendte kunstnere, at vi finder egnede motiver, der illustrerer disse emner. Inderkredsen af de akademiuddannede kunstnere veg ofte tilbage for sådanne samfundsrapporterende motiver, og denne observation giver anledning til her at kaste et blik på, hvilke rammer kunstakade-miet satte for kunstens og kunstnernes udfoldelse dengang.

KUNSTAKADEMIETDet Kongelige Danske Skildre- Bildhugger- og Bygnings- Academie, stiftet i 1754 af Frederik den 5., var dét sted i Danmark, hvor alle guld-alderkunstnerne tog deres uddannelse som malere. I perioden 1814-1969 hed det “Det kongelige Academie for de Skønne Kunster”, og på guldalderkunstnernes tid var det delt ind i forskellige skoler, som eleverne trinvist kunne rykke op i, hvis talentet og økonomien rakte til det. De fleste begyndte som ganske unge; typisk var de mellem 10-14 år. Alle begyndte i den såkaldte frihåndsskole med et toårigt forløb, hvor opgaven ikke var så fri, som navnet hentyder til. Det var en disciplin, hvor opgaven lød på med blyanten som medium at kopiere tidligere professorers male rier eller tegninger, dvs. deres todimensionelle medier. Dernæst fulgte gipsskolen, hvor eleverne nu skulle tegne efter gips afstøbninger, dvs. tegne efter tredimen-sionelle medier. Efter disse tre år kunne eleven begynde på model-skolen, hvor man tegnede efter levende mandlig model.6 Discipli-

Freund (1786-1840), C.A. Jensen (1792-1870), Lorenz Frølich (1820-1908), Frederik Sødring (1809-1862), Ditlev Blunck (1798-1854), J.V. Gertner (1818-1871), Anton Melbye (1818-1875), C.F. Sørensen (1818-1879), Ditlev Martens (1795-1864), Christen Dalsgaard (1824-1907), Thorald Brendstrup (1812-1883), C.D. Gebauer (1777-1831), Godtfred Rump (1816-1880), H.G.F. Holm (1803-1861), Anton E. Kieldrup (1827-1869) and Hermann Carmiencke (1810-1867) (ill. 2-9).3 Many of these artists will, also be repre sented in the exhibi-tion. This long reeling off of artists who have stood in the centre of positive attention and in oblivion’s more shadowy side, respec-tively, should say something about their artistic qualities and the scope of their production.4 But it was and is not like that always. The shift between centre and periphery says just as much about how the view of the Golden Age artists firmly established itself in the second half of the 1800s. Posterity’s history of art evalua-tions on quality in the Golden Age were somewhat coloured by the high extent to which the artists’ relationships to the most power ful cultural personalities of the time were positive, and to what high extent they fulfilled the demands for the criteria charac-teristic of paintings. One person especially must be emphasised here, a prominent figure working in the same era as the Golden Age artists: the art historian N.L. Høyen (1798-1870). He was at one and the same time a critic, mentor, purchasing agent and mediator, and his contemporary importance was, therefore, invaluable. Høyen’s reading of which motifs and which artists fully complied with his image dogmas gained importance in the regard that it was precisely these artists who became considered, promoted and helped along the way in their careers in Høyen’s powerful network. Høyen’s “golden age” is still identical to our present day opinion of the most elite Golden Age art, in that posterity has more or less assumed Høyen’s aesthetic taste in relation to who was in the warm, and who by rights belonged out in the cold.5 This exhibition and book does not seek to claim that we reveal a totally different and new picture of the Golden Age than that created at the time. But our inten tion has been to attempt to smooth out the difference between the centre and the peri phery, and thus it is not only well-known works by well-known artists we are engaged in. Via the themes in the book and the exhibition, we aim to shed light on subjects that are not so frequently dealt with in history of art contexts; for example, the development of society, inventions and changes. Here it is often amongst the less recognised artists that we find appropriate motifs which illustrate these subjects. The inner circle of artists trained at the academy often shrinks from motifs that report on society, and this observation gives cause to hereby cast a glance on which limits were set by the art academy back then concerning the development of the artists and their art.

ART ACADEMYThe Royal Danish Portrait, Sculpture and Architecture Academy, founded in 1754 by Frederik V, was the place in Denmark where all the artists of the Golden Age received their training as painters. In the period 1814-1969 its name changed to “The Royal Academy of the Fine Arts” and in the time of the Golden Age artists was split into various schools, which the students could gradually move up through if their talent and their finances stretched that far. The majority began rather young, typically between 10-14 years of age. All began in the so-called freehand school on a biannual cycle, where the work was not as free as the name suggests. It was a


nerne foregik fortsat kun indendørs, og teknikken var stadig blyant eller kul (ill. 10). Ydermere fandt al undervisning sted om aftenen, mens dagtimerne kunne udfyldes med privat undervisning i maleri af akademiets professorer. Det var sådan helt frem til ca. 1830, at undervisning i maleri ikke officielt fandt sted på kunstakademiet og ej heller var en del af uddannelsen. Kunstnerne måtte derfor lære at male hos professorerne for overhovedet at blive dygtige kunstnere. Eckersberg spillede her en central rolle på den danske kunst-scene for netop at få maleriundervisning indført som en officiel del af undervisningen. Derudover tog han initiativ til, at denne under-visningsgenre også kunne foregå udenfor i naturen og ikke kun i et atelierlokale på Charlottenborg, hvor akademiet hørte hjemme (ill. 12). Først efter 1842 kom maleriundervisning dog til formelt set at indgå i uddannelsesstrukturen, men efter ca. 1830 blev det accep-teret, at lærerne tog dagtimerne i brug til undervisning i maleri.7 På europæisk plan var godkendelsen af Eckersbergs praksis med at tage eleverne ud i naturen den første af sin art, idet friluftsunder-visning i andre større byer fortsat kun foregik i privat regi uden accept fra akademierne.8 Med denne danske blåstempling af en ændret praksis banedes vejen for opblomstringen af en dansk kunst baseret på landskabsiagttagelser af det nutidige landskab. Efter modelskolens trin kunne eleverne deltage i akademiets officielle konkurrencer for at opnå afslutning på deres uddannelse. I denne række af prøver skulle man først bestå den lille og store sølvmedaljekonkurrence, dernæst den lille og store guldmedalje. For at gennemføre disse trin brugte mange af kunstnerne lange årrækker.9 Paradoksalt nok foregik konkurrencerne i maleriet som medium til trods for, at kunstnerne ikke formelt set havde modtaget undervisning i denne disciplin frem til 1842. Og emnet lå altid indenfor historiemaleriets genre til langt ind i 1840’erne, uanset om man havde specialiseret sig i landskabsmaleriet, dyremaleriet, genre maleriet e.l. Selvom eleverne formåede at bestå prøverne, var den officielle kunstneriske uddannelse ved akademiet ikke færdig nu. Herefter skulle der en udenlandsrejse til, og først efter hjem-komsten, hvor man malede et medlemsstykke til akademiet, var man en rigtig kunstner!10

Vejen dertil var således umådelig lang og belagt med mange fald-gruber. Kunstnerne turde derfor oftest ikke andet end at følge de anvisninger, der blev givet af akademiet, i deres stræben efter at kunne gøre kunsten til deres levebrød. En helt let tilværelse var

discipline where the task, using a pencil as medium, was to copy the paintings or drawings of earlier professors; that is to say, their two-dimensional media. Next came stucco school, in which the students were now to sketch plaster casts; that is to say, draw three-dimensional media. Following these three years the student could begin at model school, where one drew living male models.6 The disciplines continued to take place indoors only, and the tech-niques were still pencil or charcoal (ill. 10). Furthermore, all training took place in the evening, so the daytime could be filled up with private tuition in painting by professors from the academy. It was, like this up until ca. 1830 that tuition in painting did not officially take place at the art academy and nor was it part of the training. The artists must then, learn to paint with the professors in order to become proficient artists at all. Eckersberg played a central role on the Danish art scene by getting painting tuition introduced as an official part of the training. In addition, he took the initiative to ensure that this genre of tuition could also take place outside in nature and not only in a studio locale in Charlottenborg Palace, where the academy was located (ill. 12). It was only after 1842 that painting tuition formally entered in the education structure, but after ca. 1830 it was accepted that the lecturers used daylight hours for painting tuition.7 On a European level the authorisation of Eckersberg’s practice, in which students were taken out in nature, was the first of its kind, in that open-air tuition in other larger cities continued to only occur in a private framework without acceptance from the academies.8 This Danish approval of a changed practice paved the way for the rise of a Danish art based on landscape observations of the contemporary landscape. After the model school level the students could participate in the official academy competitions to reach a conclusion to their studies. In this list of tests one had to first pass the small and large silver medal competition, followed by the small and large gold medal. Many of the artists used many years to complete these levels.9 Para doxically, the competitions took place with painting as a medium despite the artists not having formally received tuition in this discipline up till 1842. And the subject was always found within the genre of historical painting up until far into the 1840s, regard-less of whether one had specialised in landscape painting, painting of animal life, genre painting, and the so on. Even though the students managed to pass the tests, the official artistic education at the academy was not finished yet. A trip abroad was expected to follow afterwards and only upon returning home, where one painted a membership piece to the academy, was one considered a real artist!10

The path there was immensely long and filled with many pitfalls. The artists, therefore, often did not venture to do anything other than follow the directions given by the academy in their aspira-tions to make art their livelihood. It was not, therefore, a very easy existence; it was most often accompanied by artistic doubt about one’s own worth and frustration (ill. 13). In many ways the mono-poly-like established order of this vocation meant that the academy had sceptical approach to changes, impulses and renewal initia-tives. Therefore, renewal had to come from private teachers and take place in a private context. Eckersberg’s introduction of open air painting as part of the training was the first step on the road towards a different aesthetic expression, which to a higher degree than the studio practice at the

[ill. 10] Wilhelm Bendz, Modelskolen på Kunstakademiet (Model School at the Art Academy), 1826. Pen og tusch på papir / Pen and Indian ink on paper, 30,7 x 47,4 cm. Den Hirschsprungske Samling, København.


[ill. 11] F. Storck, To kunstnere i en skov (Two artists in a Forest), u.å. / n.d. Olie på træplade / Oil on wood, 28 x 39 cm. Privateje / Private collection.


[ill. 12] Christen Købke, Tegning af Eckersberg og Marstrand ude i det fri (Drawing of Eckersberg and Marstrand in the open air), 1832. Blyant på papir / Pencil on paper, 14,5 x 18,4 cm. Kobberstiksamlingen, Statens Museum for Kunst.

[ill. 13] Lorenz Frølich, Maler i sit arbejde omgivet af alfer og andre væsener (Painter at work surrounded by elves and other creatures), 1853. Blyant på kalkepapir / Pencil on tracing paper, 18,7 x 17,5 cm. Kobberstiksamlingen, Statens Museum for Kunst.


[ill. 14] Thorald Brendstrup, Landskab ved Søholt (Landscape near Søholt), 1845. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 19 x 26,7 cm. Privateje / Private collection.


[ill. 15] Christen Købke, Parti fra den nordre side af Dosseringen, studie (View from the Northern Side of Dosseringen, study), 1838. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 21,6 x 34,3 cm. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum.

[ill. 16] Dankvart Dreyer, Parti af kysten ved Aarhus (View of the Coast by Aarhus), 1838. Olie på papir, klæbet på finer og understøttet af pap / Oil on paper, glued to veneer and supported by cardboard, 20,3 x 28,8 cm. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum.


det derfor ikke; oftest ledsaget af kunstnerisk tvivl om eget værd og frustration (ill. 13). På mange måder betød de monopollignende tilstande i dette erhverv, at akademiet så skeptisk på forandringer, impulser og fornyelser. Fornyelse måtte derfor komme fra privat-lærerne og foregå i privat regi. Eckersbergs indførelse af friluftsmaleriet som en del af under-visningen var første skridt på vejen mod et anderledes kunstnerisk udtryk, der i højere grad end den daværende atelierpraksis rela-terede sig til det observerede landskab. Fornemmelsen af at sidde i naturen affødte desuden en større indsigt i vejrliget, naturens påvirkning af samme, årstidernes skiften m.m., hvilket samlet set betød, at kunstnerne begyndte at skildre det samtidige landskab og ikke kun det arkadiske, tidløse landskab (ill. 11, 14-16). Dog var der ikke tale om, at kunstnerne skildrede det samtidige landskab med alle dets samfundsskabte forandringer, uskønheder og afvigelser fra det æstetisk smukke. Det var vanskeligt for kunst-nerne at male de dele af landskabet, hvor forandringer som jern-banernes anlæggelse, fabriksanlægs fremkomst og forurening var mulige billedkunstneriske motiver. Det var først efter, at kunstnerne var færdiguddannede, at de kunne eksperimentere med genrer, der faldt udenfor akademiets hierarkier dvs. udenfor historie maleri, arkitekturmaleri, portrætmaleri, genremaleri, blomster- og dyre-

time was related to the observed landscape. The sense of sitting in nature, moreover, brought about a greater insight into climate, nature’s effect on it, and the changing of the seasons etc. which, viewed collectively, meant that the artists began to depict the con-temporary landscape and not only the Arcadian, timeless landscape (ill. 11, 14-16). That did not mean the artists were depicting the contemporary landscape with all its transformations, unsightliness, and depar-tures from the aesthetically beautiful, which had been created by society. It was difficult for the artists to paint those parts of the landscape where transformations such as the laying of railways, the appearance of industrial plants and the observed polluting were possible as motifs for paintings. It was not until after the artists were fully trained that they could experiment with genres which fell outside the academy’s hierarchies: historical painting, architectural painting, portraiture, genre painting, flower and animal painting and landscape painting. That is why we must also orient ourselves with the artists who did not attend the academy, in order to find motifs which were not dependant on all these sets of rules and norms for decorum. One of them is H.G.F. Holm, who has depicted factories with smoking chimneys, steam locomotives which pass through Copenhagen, steamships in Toldboden customs house, etc. (ill.

[ill. 17] H.G.F. Holm, Chokoladefabrikken ved Elisabethsminde set fra stien langs Peblingesøen (The Chocolate Factory at Elisabethsminde seen from the track along Peblingesøen lake), 1847. Akvarel / Watercolour, 14,8 x 20,5 cm. Københavns Museum.


maleri og landskabsmaleri. Det er derfor, at vi også må orientere os mod kunstnere, der ikke gik på akademiet, for at finde motiver, der ikke var afhængige af alle disse regelsæt og normer for dekorum. En af dem er H.G.F. Holm, der har skildret fabrikker med osende skorstene, damplokomotiver, der kører gennem København, damp-skibe i Toldboden m.m. (ill. 17-18). Sådanne motiver kunne akademi-eleverne ikke tillade sig at skildre i stor stil, hvis de ville forblive inde i varmen. Og alligevel er der undtagelser hist og her, hvor elevernes mod og trods skinner igennem (ill. 19). I udstillingen såvel som i bogen inddrager vi derfor motiver, der stikker ud fra normen for at vise et lidt andet billede af guldalderkunsten. Selve genrehierarkiet var dog også under omvæltning i guld-alderen. Hvor historiemaleriet var den fornemste kategori i akade-miets regi i begyndelsen af guldalderen, endte landskabsmaleriet med at være den mest udbredte og solgte kategori på de årlige

17-18). The academy students could not allow themselves to depict motifs such as these in a grand style, if they wanted to remain out of the cold. There are exceptions anyway, here and there, where the students’ courage and defiance shines through (ill. 19). In the exhibition as well as in the book we, therefore, call in motifs which contrast with the norm to show a slightly different picture of Golden Age art. The hierarchy of genres itself was also undergoing upheaval in the Golden Age, though. Where the historical painting was the most distinguished category in the academy context in the beginning of the Golden Age, the landscape painting ended up being the most widespread and saleable category at the annual exhibitions at Charlottenborg, where the students presented their work, and where the fully fledged academy members also exhibited. The landscape painting had risen like this in grades and as a conse-quence made the history painting look obsolete. The purchasing side of these exhibitions consisted of many various people and institutions. Here, typically, the following bodies were represented: the king, who bought for his private collection; nobles; Høyen, who purchased for the king’s public collection (ill. 20); Thorvaldsen; The Art Association; and, as something new, the growing, now capable purchasing power of the middle classes. Here the middle classes seemed to sympathise especially with the artists’ depictions of the intimate Danish nature whereas the historical painting, which demanded a deeper acquaintance to legend, mythologies, and the like, was not preferred by this group of buyers to a marked degree. With the rise of the middle classes as a new buyer category there was, in other words, money in painting landscapes!

ART fOR THE MIDDLE CLASSES In the Golden Age something decisively new happened with art: it become woven into public life. Previously the artists had only created works on commission from the king and the nobility, but

[ill. 18] H.G.F. Holm, Jernbanekørsel ved broen til Carlsberg (Rail travel by the bridge at Carlsberg), 1847. Akvarel / Watercolour. Carlsberg Museet.

[ill. 19] Martinus Rørbye, Havneparti Horten (Harbour View, Horten), 1832. Blyant og akvarel / Pencil and watercolour, 10,7 x 17,9 cm. Kobberstiksamlingen, Statens Museum for Kunst.


udstillinger på Charlottenborg, hvor eleverne præsenterede deres arbejder, og hvor de færdiguddannede akademimedlemmer også udstillede. Landskabsmaleriet var således steget i graderne og havde som konsekvens fået historiemaleriet til at se utids svarende ud. Købersiden på disse udstillinger bestod af mange forskel-lige personer og institutioner. Her var typisk følgende instanser repræsenterede: kongen, der købte til sin private samling (ill. 20), adelen, Høyen, der købte ind til kongens offentlige samling, Thor-valdsen, Kunstforeningen, og som noget nyt: det fremvoksende, købe dygtige borgerskab. Her synes især borgerskabet at sympati-sere med kunstnernes skildringer af den nære danske natur, hvori-mod historiemaleriet, der fordrede et dybere kendskab til sagn, myto logier o.l., ikke i udpræget grad blev foretrukket af denne grup-pe købere. Med opkomsten af borgerskabet som ny aftagergruppe var der med andre ord penge i at male landskabsmalerier!

KUNST TIL bORGERSKAbET I guldalderen skete der det afgørende nye med kunsten, at den blev spundet ind i et offentligt liv. Tidligere havde kunstnerne kun skabt værker på bestilling fra kongen og adelen, men i guldalde-ren blev offentligt tilgængelige udstillinger en realitet. På disse udstillinger var værkerne til salg for potentielle købere, dvs. at værkerne blev skabt til et marked, hvor man ikke havde sikkerhed for afsætning. Kun de bedste værker eller rettere de værker, der ramte tidens smag, blev købt. De årlige udstillinger på Charlotten-borg var fra 1807 det største udstillingsvindue i Danmark, hvor kunstnerne kunne opnå berømmelse og få solgt alle værker i ud-stillingsperioden – eller ingen.11 Med denne nye kunstoffentlighed fulgte en helt ny tilgængelighed til kunstens univers, som ikke forud havde været borgerskabet forundt. Kunst fandtes tidligere primært i kongens og adelens besiddelser, men med udstillingernes nye købsmuligheder kunne det bedre stillede borgerskab også blive ejere af billedkunst. Udstillingernes offentlige liv gjorde således, at kunstens verden åbnede sig for folket, og at der herigennem modnedes en fælles bevidsthed hos borgerskabet. Borgerskabet kunne kende sig selv i kunstens nye udtryk, der nu i højere grad skildrede deres egen samtid frem for en fjern og uforståelig fortid.12

Kunstens billedsprog var med andre ord kommet ned på jorden og havde fået et genkendeligt udtryk. I dette rum af nye muligheder blev kongens billedkunstsamling, der tidligere var en del af Kunstkammeret, udskilt fra de kultur-historiske genstande og kuriositeterne og nu udstillet for sig. Og hvad vigtigere var: kongens samlinger af kunst blev gjort offentligt tilgængelige.13 Med Høyen ved roret som bestyrer og indkøber til kongens samling, blev der fra 1829 tilmed givet gratis entré som led i Høyens strategi med at demokratisere adgangen til kunsten.14

Denne beslutning er blot én blandt mange, der peger i samme ret-ning.15 Samfundet var ved at ændre sig, borgerskabet marcherede frem og en ny national bevidsthed modnedes som følge af kunst-nernes billeder, der skildrede det danske land fra nord til syd og fra øst til vest. Kunst, politik, dannelse, oplysning og demokrati gik på mange måder hånd i hånd i disse årtier, indtil det til fulde lykkedes borger-skabet at blive landets magthavere.16 Og uden tvivl spillede kunst-offentligheden en væsentlig rolle her. TIDSRAMMEN Den danske guldalder tidsfæstes som nævnt ofte til første del af

in the Golden Age publicly accessible exhibitions became a reality. In these exhibitions the works were for sale to potential buyers; that is to say, the works were created for a market where a sale could not be certain. Only the best works, or more precisely those works which fitted the tastes of the time, were bought. The yearly exhibitions at Charlottenborg were, from 1807, the largest exhibi-tion window in Denmark, where the artists could achieve fame and have all their works sold during the exhibition period – or none.11 What was more important was that with this new public art there also followed a whole new accessibility to the universe of art, which would previously have been denied the middle classes. Earlier art was found primarily in the possession of the king or the nobility, but with the new purchasing possibilities of the exhibition, the better positioned middle classes also became owners of artworks. The public life of the exhibitions made it possible for the art world to also open up for the people, and that through this a common con-sciousness developed in the middle classes. The middle classes could recognise themselves in this new expression of art, which now to a higher degree depicted their own age rather than a dis-tant and incomprehensible past.12 The imagery of art had, in other words, come down to earth and gained a recognisable expression. In this space of new possibilities the king’s picture collection, which previously was part of a cabinet of curiosities, became separated from cultural historical objects and curiosities and now exhibited on its own. And what was more important: the king’s collections of art were made accessible to the public.13 With Høyen at the helm as administrator and buyer for the king’s collection, free access to the collection was given from 1829 as a link in Høyen’s strategy of democratising access to art.14 This decision is just one among many which all point in the same direction.15 Society was changing, the middle classes marched ahead and a new national movement ripened as a consequence of the artists’ pictures, which depicted the Danish land from north to south and from east to west. Art, politics, education, information and democracy, in many ways, went hand in hand in these decades, until the middle classes fully succeeded in becoming the brokers of power in the country.16 And public art without doubt played a considerable role in this.

TIME fRAME The Danish Golden Age is, as mentioned, often dated to the first half of the 1800s. There are, though, deviations from here because of artistic as well as historical milestones, which are ascribed crucial importance. Two of these milestones which are often emphasised are, on the one hand, C.W. Eckersberg’s induction as a professor at the Royal Academy of the Fine Arts in 1818, which meant artistic progress and development, and, on the other hand, the fall of absolute monarchy in 1848, marking the end of an era of loyalty to the Crown.17

There was no doubt that what took place was an artistic flourishing of invaluable format within Danish painting in this encapsulated period for thirty years, which to that extent deserves to be emphasised. This book and exhibition does not intend ques-tioning the term Golden Age art itself or the importance of the milestones. However, it will be our aim in the book to look at the period in a broader artistic perspective, with the focus moved from individual events to cultural tendencies which played out across artistic, political and scientific expressions, visions and conquests.


[ill. 20] J.V. Gertner, Kong Christian d. 8. (King Christian VIII), 1845. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 124 x 96 cm. Gisselfeld Kloster.


1800-tallet. Der er dog afvigelser herfra på grund af kunstneriske såvel som historiske milepæle, der tillægges afgørende betydning. To af de milepæle, som tit fremhæves, er C.W. Eckersbergs til trædelse som professor ved Det kongelige Academie for de Skønne Kunster i 1818, der betød kunstnerisk fremgang og udvikling, og ene vældens fald i 1848, der markerede, at en kongetro æra var forbi.17 Der udspillede sig uden tvivl en kunstnerisk opblomstring af uvurderlig format indenfor den danske malerkunst i denne indkaps-lede periode på tredive år, som i den grad fortjener at blive frem-hævet. Denne bog og udstilling ønsker heller ikke at anfægte selve betegnelsen guldalderkunst eller milepælenes betydning. Der imod vil det være vores ærinde i bogen at se på tiden i et bredere kunst nerisk perspektiv, hvor blikket hæves fra enkelt stående begivenheder til kulturelle tendenser, som udspillede sig på tværs af kunstneriske, politiske og videnskabelige udtryk, visioner og landvindinger. Helt konkret betyder det, at vi fx ikke lægger vægt på Eckersbergs tiltrædelse i 1818, men snarere fokuserer på de nybrud som han og andre personligheder gennemførte, uafhængigt af hinanden, men nogenlunde samtidigt i Europa. Ej heller lægger vi vægt på årstallet 1848 som et skæringspunkt, hvor noget slut-tede i Danmark. Snarere vil vi betragte guldalderen som en æra, hvor borger skabets bevidsthed langsomt modnedes, og at netop kulminationen på denne proces førte til enevældens fald og til demokratiets spæde indførelse. Selvom enevældens sidste æra var lig med guldalderen som periode, har vi i bogen betonet presset på enevælden i årtierne forud for 1848. Det vil sige, at vi har fokuseret på borgerskabets visioner frem for på de forskellige enevældige konger fra perioden. Dette perspektiv har ført til, at vi i høj grad har inddraget malerier udført både i 1840’erne, 1850’erne og frem til begyndelsen af 1860’erne, eftersom politiske visioner om demo-krati blev udtrykt i billedkunsten med uformindsket styrke på begge sider af året 1848. Der var således tale om en kunstnerisk konti-nuitet fra ca. 1840 til 1864 indenfor det politiske landskabsmaleri. Udstillingen og bogen ønsker derfor at udvide guldalder periodens traditionelle hegnspæle for herigennem at lade forbindelses linjer mellem 1840’erne og 1850’erne træde tydeligere frem. Måske kan denne udvidelse være med til at nuancere og revurdere vores angivelse af, hvornår noget er guldalderkunst? Eller rettere hvor-når det giver mere mening at se fællestræk frem for forskelle på tværs af overlappende kunst historiske kategoriseringer såsom romantikken, guldalder, nationalromantikken m.m.

GULDALDEREN – I KRYDSfELTET MELLEM KUNST, LITTERATUR, NATURvIDENSKAb OG HISTORIEGuldalderen er billedkunstnerisk set en yderst spændende bryd-ningstid såvel som opblomstringstid i Danmark. Men isoleret betragtet får man overvejende indtrykket af, at verden stadig var harmonisk og idyllisk, hvis billedernes univers skal give os hele svaret. Med denne udstilling og bog søger vi derfor indblik i tiden blandt en lidt bredere kreds af fagfolk, som kan åbne for nye og ander ledes perspektiver på guldalderen. Netop denne tvær faglige optik har været frugtbar og bevirket, at kunstnernes relationer til så forskelligartede emner som den politiske scene, turismens frem-komst, optiske apparater, forfatterne, videnskabsfolkene, skovens træer m.m. nu danner et klarere billede af, hvordan tidens per-sonligheder og deres respektive kunstarter var tæt forbundne og ikke mindst, hvordan de gensidigt inspirerede hinanden.18 Bogens

That means that we, for example, will not place emphasis on Eckersberg’s induction in 1818, but rather focus on the new departure that he and other personalities carried out, independent of one another but somewhat simultaneously, in Europe. Neither will we emphasise the year 1848 as an intersection where something ended in Denmark. Rather, we will regard the Golden Age as an era where middle class consciousness slowly ripened and where it was precisely the culmination of this process which lead to the fall of absolute monarchy and to the introduction of a democracy in its infancy. Even though the final era of absolute monarchy was concurrent with the Golden Age as a period, in the book we have accentuated the pressure on auto cracy in the decades before 1848. That is to say, we have focused on the middle class’ visions rather than on the various kings from the period. This perspective has led to the fact that we, to a large extent, have involved paintings com-pleted in the 1840s, 1850s and up to the beginning of the 1860s, because political visions for democracy were expressed in painting with unabated power on both sides of the year 1848. In this way, there was an artistic continuity noted from ca. 1840 to 1864 within political landscape painting. The exhibition and book, there-fore, wish to extend the traditional, disjunctive fence posts of the Golden Age period, and through this action allow the connecting lines between the 1840s and 1850s to come forward more clearly. Maybe this extension can be part of nuancing and reconsider ing our assertion of when something is Golden Age art; or, more precisely, when it makes sense to see common traits rather than differences across overlapping categorisations within the history of art, such as romantic, golden age, romantic nationalism, etc.

THE GOLDEN AGE – IN THE CROSS fIELD bETwEEN ART, LITERATURE, NATURAL SCIENCE AND HISTORYSeen from an art historical viewpoint, the Golden Age is a time of the utmost excitement, of unrest and upheaval, as well as a time of growth in Denmark. But regarded in an isolated sense, one is given the predominant impression that the world was still harmonic and idyllic, and that the picture universe would give us the whole answer. With this exhibition and book, therefore, we search for insight into the time amongst a slightly wider circle of specialists, who can open new and different perspectives on the Golden Age. This interdisciplinary focus has been fruitful and has led to the artists’ relations to such diverse subjects as the political scene, the arrival of tourism, optical apparatus, authors, scientists, trees in the forest, etc. now forming a clearer picture of how the personalities of the time and their respective types of art were closely linked, and not least how they reci procally inspired one another.18 The content of the book and the exhibition are, therefore, constructed thematically to be able to pull threads across the branches of art. The remaining articles in the book are presented here: Former Associate Professor in History at the University of Copenhagen, Hans Vammen, writes in his contribution, “To pull oneself up by one’s own hair. Romanticism and politics in the Danish Golden Age” about the era from a historical and political point of view. His aim is to depict a unity of politics, ideas and art, illuminating which political agendas and decisions laid the foundations for the remainder of the 1800s. The Golden Age especially became a time with inner contrasts, and out of them this time of upheaval appeared as a culture which had to pull itself up by one's own hair. One artist mostly overlooked today is Fritz Jürgensen (1818-1863),


og udstillingens indhold er derfor tematisk opbygget for at kunne trække tråde på tværs af kunst arterne. Bogens øvrige artikler præ-senteres her: Tidligere lektor i historie ved Københavns Universitet Hans Vammen skriver i sit bidrag: “At trække sig selv op ved hårene. Romantik og politik i dansk guldalder” om tiden historisk og poli-tisk betragtet. Hans fokus er at skildre en helhed af politik, idéer og kunst, der belyser, hvilke politiske dagsordner og beslutninger der lagde grundstenene for resten af 1800-tallet. Især guldalderen blev en tid med indre modsætninger, og ud af denne brydningstid opstod en kultur, der måtte trække sig selv op ved hårene. En i dag overset kunstner som Fritz Jürgensen (1818-1863) har i tegninger og skrift skildret og sat ord på tidens indre og ydre paradokser med en så satirisk og ironisk tone, at han blev en af de kunstnere, der røg ud i kulden og glemt. Frem til 1960’erne var Jürgensen stadig kendt for sine tekster, men for sin kunstneriske gerning var han i kunst-historiske kredse glemt. Vammen har hevet Jürgensens billeder såvel som ord frem fra glemslen og læser ham ind i den politiske samtid, hvor Jürgensen får fornyet aktualitet. Direktør for Dansk Jagt- og Skovbrugsmuseum Jette Baagøe sætter i sit bidrag “Løvet i Charlottes Bøgelund” fokus på det danske landskab ud fra en forstbotanisk vinkel. Hendes pointe er, at de danske guldaldermalere og digtere har haft så stor betydning for nutidens opfattelse af, hvordan et “rigtigt” landskab skulle se ud, at naturfredningsinitiativer har søgt at genskabe dette malede og beskrevne guldalderlandskab. Dette guldalderlandskab var dog en konstruktion, idet Baagøe ved sammenligning med andre samtidige kilder påviser, at selve skoven så anderledes mangfoldig ud, end den kunstnerne skildrede. Det billede, som kunstnerne skabte af Danmarks skove, har således haft vidtrækkende konsekvenser for vores syn på, hvad der hørte til den danske skovnatur og de danske skovlandskaber. Professor i videnskabshistorie ved Aarhus Universitet Helge Kragh dykker i sit bidrag “Ørsted, naturvidenskaben og den danske guld alder” ned i, hvordan der opstod en ny opfattelse af natur videnskaberne på grund af tidens mange opfindelser og erkendelser. For en person som H.C. Ørsted (1777-1851) var natur-opfattelse og kunst tæt forbundne størrelser, og litteratur og æstetik blev her igennem centrale komponenter i hans naturvidenskabelige dannelses projekt. Kragh viser konturerne af, hvordan de danske kunstnere lod sig påvirke af tidens videnskabsforgreninger af natur-historien i blandt andet geologi, botanik, zoologi og palæontologi. Lektor i nordisk litteratur ved Aarhus Universitet Dan Ringgaard tager i sit bidrag “Landskabets romantiske skæbne” os med ind i litteraturens landskabsbeskrivelser. Med fokus på H.C. Andersen rejser vi ind i hans bøger, hvor beskrivelser af et sted kan antage mange former. Ringgaard viser, hvordan guldaldertidens forfattere sanser, gør sig tanker om, drømmer om og forholder sig til en loka-litet i deres ord – på en anden måde end tidligere perioder. Artiklen hævder, at “stedet” opnåede en helt anden fylde og konkretion i første halvdel af 1800-tallet. Også hos de danske kunstnere spores denne “gøren en lokalitet” til et sted, idet kunstnere rejste til kendte og ukendte steder i Danmark og Europa, hvor de malede landskaber som steder, der kunne trædes ind i og leves i. Adjunkt i kunsthistorie og visuel kultur ved Aarhus Universitet Karina Lykke Grand kommer i følgende tre bidrag “Visionen for Danmark: En politisk landskabskunst”, “Rejsebilleder – Turist i Arkadien?” og “Det nye blik” rundt om centrale aspekter af de

who had, in drawings and writing, depicted and placed words on the inner and outer paradoxes of the age with such a satirical and ironic tone that he became one of the artists who was thrown out in the cold and forgotten. Up to the 1960s, Jürgensen was still known for his writing, but his artistic output was forgotten in history of art circles. Vammen has pulled Jürgensen’s pictures as well as his words from out of obscurity and reads him into the contemporary political scene, where Jürgensen gains renewed topicality. The Director of Dansk Jagt- og Skovbrugsmuseum (The Danish Museum of Hunting and Forestry), Jette Baagøe, focuses on the Danish landscape seen from the perspective of forest botany, in her contribution, “The foliage in Charlotte’s beech grove”. Her point is that the Danish poets and painters of the Golden Age have had such a great influence on the present day perception of how an “ original” landscape should appear, that initiatives for the preser-vation of nature have sought to recreate this painted and written Golden Age landscape. The Golden Age landscape was, though, a construction, in that Baagøe, using comparisons with other contem-porary sources, shows that the forest itself appeared differently manifold than it was depicted by the artists. The image which the artists created of Denmark’s forests has, in this way, had wide-spread consequences for our view of what belongs to the Danish forest nature and the Danish forest landscapes. Professor of History of Science and Technology at Aarhus University, Helge Kragh, in his contribution, “Ørsted, natural science and the Danish Golden Age” delves in his contribution into how a new understanding of natural science arose because of the many inventions and realisations of the period. For an individual such as H.C. Ørsted (1777-1851), the understanding of nature and art were especially closely bound conditions, and through this literature and aesthetic became central components in his natural science education project. Kragh shows the contours of how the Danish a rtists were themselves affected by the natural history branches of science at the time, such as geology, botany, zoology and palae-ontology. Associate Professor of Scandinavian Literature at Aarhus University, Dan Ringgaard, takes us along into the literary landscape descriptions in his contribution, “The Landscape’s Romantic Fate”. Focusing on H.C. Andersen we travel into his books, where descrip-tions of a place can assume many forms. Ringgaard shows how the authors of the Golden Age used their senses to think about, dream about, and relate to localities with their words – and in a different way to earlier periods. The article maintains that “place” achieved a wholly other fullness and concretion in the first half of the 1800s This “making of a locality”, amongst the Danish artists also, can be traced to a place, in that artists travelled to known and unknown places in Denmark and Europe where they painted landscapes as places which could be entered and lived in. Assistant Professor in Art History and Visual Culture at Aarhus Universitet, Karina Lykke Grand, composes the following three contributions, “The Vision for Denmark: a Political Landscape Painting”, “Travel Images – A Tourist in Arcadia?” and “The New View in the Golden Age” around the central aspects of the new departure of painting which was found in the Golden Age. Within the genres of landscape painting, travel pictures and a category which we call “the strange, curious pictures”, focus is directed toward how the Golden Age artists sought to break the norms of artistic practice (ill 21). The view of the world that certain artists


[ill. 21] Christen Dalsgaard, Studie fra Limfjorden (Study from Limfjorden), 1851. Olie på papir, klæbet på lærred / Oil on paper, glued on canvas, 31 x 24,5 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst.


[ill. 22] Fritz Petzholdt, Italiensk bjerglandskab, studie (Italian Mountain Landscape, study), 1830-35. Olie på pap, opklæbet på lærred / Oil on cardboard, glued on canvas, 24,5 x 32,9 cm. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum.


billed kunstneriske nybrud, som fandt sted i guldalderen (ill. 21). Indenfor genrerne landskabsmaleri, rejsebilleder (ill. 22-23) og en kategori vi kalder “de mærkelige, forunderlige billeder” retter fokus sig mod, hvordan guldalderkunstnerne søgte at bryde normerne for kunstnerisk praksis. Særligt kunstnernes blik på verden, som de oplevede den i det nære Danmark og på rejser i det fjerne ud-land fik en ny tone i guldalderen. Det officielle syn på, hvad der var acceptabelt at skildre i kunstens verden, var snævert dengang, men kunstnerne satte dette syn under fælles pres ved i mindre værker, gemt væk fra offentlighedens søgelys, at skildre verden med et nyt blik. En række af værkerne kan derfor tilskrives et langt mere forandringsbrydende potentiale, end vi normalt tillægger guldalder-kunsten, og i artiklerne “Det nye blik” og “Rejsebilleder – Turist i Arkadien?” belyses det, hvordan disse opgør med den traditionelle kunst og kunst akademiets forskrifter rullede sig ud. Med de politiske landskabsmalerier forholdt det sig anderledes. I artiklen “Visionen for Danmark: en politisk landskabskunst” uddybes det, hvordan kunstnerne udfyldte en strategisk og udadvendt rolle. Disse malerier var politisk motiverede, for kunstnerne ville som så mange andre fra det højere borgerskab have mere frihed og demo-kratiske rettigheder i samfundet. Derfor støttede de den national-liberale sag i 1840’erne og udklækkede herigennem en langtids-holdbar landskabsstrategi, som vi stadig refererer til i dag. Det er ARoS’ ønske, at denne bog og udstilling om dansk guld-alderkunst skal bringe kendte og mindre kendte skatte fra museets guldaldersamling frem i lyset og præsentere værkerne og kunst-nerne bag i en udvidet og til tider overraskende kontekst.

experienced in nearby Denmark and in faraway foreign lands on their travels (ill. 22-23), gained a new tone in the Golden Age. The official view of what was acceptable to depict in the art world was narrow back then, but the artists placed this view under common pressure by depicting the world with a new gaze, in smaller works, hidden away from the public spotlight. A number of the works can, therefore, be attributed to a far more innovation-breaking potential than we normally ascribe to the art of the Golden Age, and in the articles “The New View in the Golden Age” and “Travel Images – A Tourist in Arcadia?” light is shed on how these rebel against tradi-tional art and the art academy’s regulations are unravelled. With political landscape painting the relationship was different. In the article, “The Vision for Denmark: a Political Landscape Painting” the notion is developed of how the artists filled a strategic and extrovert role. These paintings were politically motivated. The artists, like so many others from the upper middle classes, wanted to have more freedom and democratic rights in society. Therefore they supported the National Liberal cause in the 1840s, and through this hatched a long-life landscape strategy, which we still refer to today. It is ARoS’ aim that this book and exhibition on Danish Golden Age art will bring known and lesser known treasures from the museum’s Golden Age collection out into the light, and present the works and the artists behind them in an extended and, at times, surprising context.


[ill. 23] C.W. Eckersberg, Peterspladsen i Rom (St. Peter’s Square in Rome), 1813-16. Olie på lærred / Oil on canvas, 31,4 x 26,8 cm. Thorvaldsens Museum.


LITTERATUR / REfERENCES

Bencard, Mogens (red. / ed.): Krydsfelt – Ånd og natur i Guldalderen, København: Gyldendal 2000. Bramsen, Henrik: Dansk Kunst fra Rokoko til vore Dage, København 1942.Bramsen, Henrik: Ny Dansk Kunsthistorie, bind 3: Fra rokoko til guldalder, København: Forlaget Palle Fogtdal 1994.Christensen, Erik M: “Guldalderen som idéhistorisk periode: H.C. Ørsteds optimistiske dualisme”, pp. 11-45, IN Henning Høirup (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.): Guldalderstudier, festskrift til Gustav Albeck, d. 5. juni 1966, Århus 1966.Dam Christensen, Hans: “Billedkunsten – Om kunsthistorien, N.L. Høyen og folkets billedkunst”, pp. 67-94, IN Palle Ove Christiansen (red. / ed.): Veje til danskheden – Bidrag til den moderne nationale selvforståelse, Dansk Folkemindesamling, København: C.A. Reitzels forlag 2005. Dam Christensen, Hans: Forskydningens kunst – kritiske bidrag til kunsthistoriens historie, København: Multivers 2001.Friborg, Flemming: Det gode selskab. Kunstforeningens historier 18252000, København: Gyldendal 2000.Grand, Karina Lykke: Dansk guldalder. Rejsebilleder, Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag 2012.Hannover, Emil: Det nittende Aarhundredes Kunst – Skikkelser og Strømninger, København 1918.Hannover, Emil: Maleren C.W. Eckersberg: En Studie i dansk Kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1898.Hannover, Emil: Maleren Christen Købke: En studie i dansk Kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1893.Hannover, Emil: Maleren Constantin Hansen: En Studie i dansk Kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1901.Høirup, Henning (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.): Guldalderstudier, festskrift til Gustav Albeck, d. 5. juni 1966, Århus 1966. Lunding, Erik: “Biedermeier og romantismen”, pp. 32-67, IN Kritik, nr. / no. 7, København 1968. Madsen, Karl (red. / ed.): Kunstens Historie i Danmark, København 1901-1907. Monrad, Kasper og Charlotte Christensen: De ukendte guldaldermalere, København: Kunstforeningen 1982.Monrad, Kasper: Hverdagsbilleder – Dansk guldalder – kunstnerne og deres vilkår, Christian Ejlers Forlag, København 1989.Monrad, Kasper: “Dansk kunst fra nyklassicisme til romantik”, IN Kasper Monrad (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.), Danish Masters 18001850, SMK-udstilling til Pushkin Museet, Moskva 2011. Vammen, Hans: “Kritisk romantik – om opfattelsen af den danske guldalder – I anledning af en disputats om N.L. Høyen”, pp. 18-38, IN Historisk tidsskrift, København 1987.Vedel, Valdemar: Studier over Guldalderen i dansk Digtning, København 1890.

NOTER / NOTES

1. Vedel, Valdemar: Studier over Guldalderen i dansk Digtning, København 1890; Henrik Bramsen anvender betegnelsen om maler-kunsten første gang i 1942: Bramsen, Henrik: Dansk Kunst fra Rokoko til vore Dage, København 1942, pp. 177-235 / Henrik Bramsen employs the description on art for the first time in 1942. Bramsen, Henrik: Dansk Kunst fra Rokoko til vore Dage, København 1942.2. Om guldalderbegrebet se endvidere / On the term Golden Age, see further: Conrad, Flemming: “Guldaldertidens selvforståelse og guldalderbegrebets dannelse”, pp. 36-41, IN Henschen, Eva (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.): Meddelelser fra Thorvaldsens Museum, København 1994; Monrad, Kasper: Hverdagsbilleder – Dansk guldalder – kunstnerne og deres vilkår, Christian Ejlers forlag, København 1989; Lunding, Erik: “Biedermeier og romantismen”, pp. 32-67, IN Kritik, nr. / no. 7, København 1968; Christensen, Erik M.: “Guldalderen som idéhistorisk periode: H.C. Ørsteds optimistiske dualisme”, pp. 11-45, IN Henning Høirup (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.): Guldalderstudier, festskrift til Gustav Albeck, d. 5. juni 1966, Århus 1966; Vammen, Hans: “Kritisk romantik – om opfattelsen af den danske guldalder”, pp. 18-38, IN Historisk tidsskrift, København 1987; Christensen, Hans Dam: Forskydningens kunst – kritiske bidrag til kunsthistoriens historie, København: Multivers 2001; Grand, Karina Lykke: Dansk guldalder. Rejsebilleder, Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag 2012.3. Monrad, Kasper og Charlotte Christensen: De ukendte guldaldermalere, København: Kunstforeningen 1982; Monrad 1989. 4. Der tegner sig dog på én front et lidt entydigt billede af denne udstilling og bog, idet den kun viser mandlige kunstneres værker. Der fandtes få kvindelige kunstnere med en beskeden kunstnerisk produktion i tiden, men disse er ikke inddraget til denne lejlighed / On one front, it appears that a one-sided image of this exhibition and book is emerging, in that it only shows the work of male artists. There were a few female artists at the time, but these are not contained here. 5. Bramsen 1942, Bramsen 1994; Hannover, Emil: Det nittende Aarhundredes Kunst – Skikkelser og Strømninger, København 1918; Hannover, Emil: Maleren C.W. Eckersberg: En Studie i dansk Kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1898; Hannover, Emil: Maleren Christen Købke – en studie i dansk kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1893; Hannover, Emil: Maleren Constantin Hansen: En Studie i dansk Kunsthistorie, København: Kunstforeningen i København 1901; Madsen, Karl (red. / ed.): Kunstens Historie i Danmark, København 1901-1907. 6. Monrad 1989, pp. 78-79. Først efter 1829 blev det tilladt at tegne efter kvindelig model / Drawing female models was allowed for the first time after 1829.7. Monrad 1989, pp. 84-85.8. Monrad, Kasper: “Dansk kunst fra nyklassicisme til romantik”, IN Kasper Monrad (red. m.fl. / ed. et al.), Danish Masters 18001850, SMK-udstlling til Pushkin Museet, Moskva 2011, Udgivet af Statens Museum for Kunst. 9. Monrad 1989, p. 79. Dog var det ikke et krav at opnå den store guldmedalje / Though achieving the grand gold medal was not a demand.10. Rejserne varede typisk 3-6 år i guldalderens begyndelse og midte, mens de i slutningen af 1840’erne skulle og kunne gennemføres på 1-2 år / The trips typically lasted 3-6 years in the beginning and middle of the Golden Age, while in the end of the 1840s 1-2 years should and could be required. Se endvidere Grand 2012 for mere om rejsebilleder / See further Grand 2012 for more on travel pictures. For mere om medlemsstykkerne til akademiet se / For more on membership pieces to the academy, see Anneli Fuchs og Emma Salling (red. / ed.), Kunstakademiet 17542004, bind / vol. 1. København: Det kongelige Akademi for de Skønne Kunster og Arkitektens forlag 2004.11. Reitzel, Carl: Fortegnelse over danske Kunstneres Arbejder paa de ved Det Kgl. Akademi for de skjønne Kunster i Aarene 18071882 afholdte CharlottenborgUdstillinger, København: Thieles Bogtrykkeri 1883. Fra 1807 blev udstillingerne en årlig begivenhed / From 1807 the exhibitions became an annual event.12. Dam Christensen, Hans: “Billedkunsten – Om kunsthistorien, N.L. Høyen og folkets billedkunst”, pp. 67-94, IN Palle Ove Christiansen (red. / ed.): Veje til danskheden – Bidrag til den moderne nationale selvforståelse, Dansk Folkemindesamling, København: C.A. Reitzels forlag 2005, pp. 72-85. 13. Kongens samlinger blev gjort offentligt tilgængelige fra 1827 / The Royal collections were made accessible to the public from 1827. Se / See Dam Christensen 2005, p. 86.


14. N.L. Høyen og Christian Jürgensen Thomsen frasagde sig en del af deres løn mod, at der kunne være gratis entré / N.L. Høyen and Christian Jürgensen Thomsen waived a portion of their wages in order that there could be free entry.15. Man kunne også nævne etableringen af Kunstforeningen i 1825 som en central begivenhed med vidtrækkende betydning for kunstens udbredelse i Danmark / One could also name the establishment of the Art Association in 1825 as a central event with far-reaching meaning for the spread of art in Denmark. Friborg, Flemming: Det gode selskab. Kunstforeningens historier 18252000, København: Gyldendal 2000. 16. Se Karina Lykke Grands artikel: “Visionen for Danmark: en politisk landskabskunst” i denne bog for udfoldelse af landskabsgenrens demokratiske og politiske potentiale / See Karina Lykke Grand’s article:“The Vision for Denmark: a political landscape painting” in this book for the development of the democratic and political potential of the landscape genre.17. Monrad 2011. 18. Et andet tværfagligt udstillings- og bogprojekt om guldalderen, som bør fremhæves er udstillingen “Ånden i naturen – Dansk guld-alder 1800-1850” på Nationalmuseet i 2000 og den relaterede bogudgivelse Krydsfelt – Ånd og natur i Guldalderen. Til dette projekt søgte man via et tværfagligt orienteret perspektiv at belyse sammenhænge mellem kunst, kultur og videnskab i guldalderen med udgangspunkt i H.C. Ørsted. Herigennem trådte et mindre poleret syn på guldalderen frem. (Udstilling: “Ånden i naturen – Dansk guldalder 1800-1850”, august 2000 – januar 2001, Nationalmuseet. Udgivelse: Mogens Bencard (red.): Krydsfelt – Ånd og natur i Guldalderen, udgivet i forbindelse med Guldalderfestivalen, København 2000.) Det er sådanne projekter, som ARoS’ udstilling og bog har ladet sig inspirere af. Dog er vores primære fokus billedkunsten og de tentakler, som kunstnerne havde til samfundet / Another inter-disciplinary exhibition and book project on the Golden Age, which in particular should be mentioned is the exhibition ”Ånden i naturen – Dansk guldalder 1800-1850” at the National Museum of Denmark and the related publication Krydsfelt – Ånd og natur i Guldalderen. Via an interdisciplinary oriented perspective, this project attempted to shed light on the connection between art, culture and science in the Golden Age with H.C. Ørsted as a starting point, and through this a lesser polished view of the Golden Age came to the fore. (Exhibition: “Ånden i naturen – Dansk guldalder 1800-1850”, August 2000-January 2001, National Museum of Denmark. ( Publisher: Mogens Bencard (ed.): Krydsfelt – Ånd og natur i Guldalderen, published in connection with the Golden Age Festival, København 2000.) It is projects such as this which ARoS’ exhibition and book have been inspired by, although our primary focus is on the artworks and thoughts which the artists had in relation to society. Furthermore, we have aimed to have the individual contributors relate, in an interdisciplinary manner, to their own areas of expertise in combination with the art.

Vilhelm Petersen Diset gråvejrsdag, Christianshavn (Hazy Overcast Day, Christianshavn), u.å. / n.d. Olie på pap (papir) / Oil on cardboard (paper), 20,5 x 27 cm. Privateje / Private collection.

introduktion til den danske guldalder - au pure · golden age. as expressed by constantin hansen,...

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