THE SEA – The Other Landscape
10 October 2014–1 March 2015
Opening: 9 October, 5pm
Brandts – Museum of Art and Visual Culture
Brandts Torv 1
5000 Odense C
Denmark
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm,
Thursday noon–9pm
Salt water and the spray of waves. Cannon and brandy. Scenes of life at sea abound in Danish art. The sea is an element of dreams, sending proud men to their deaths while making others instantly rich. Here Danes have won victories, created marvellous paintings and established connections to the rest of the world. Brandts now presents the story of the sea in Danish art, from the majestic seascapes of the 1800s to global life at sea today.
Heaving masses of water come crashing down on the deck, threatening to wash crew, cannon and barrels of spirits overboard. Soon Danes will sink the Swedes, or the Swedes will sink us! Scenes of heroism and heart’s blood spilled at sea abound in Danish art. They tell a tale of past and present, but also of the sea as a place for trade. The sea is an element of dreams, sending proud men to their deaths while making others instantly rich. Here Danes have won victories, not least the inhabitants of Funen, producing incomparable paintings and establishing connections to the rest of the world.
This fall’s large-scale exhibition at Brandts invites you to discover the sea as landscape, myth and drama of the highest order in Danish and international art. The exhibition will present a great selection of major works, ranging from the majestic seascapes of the 1800s to global life at sea today. And in depictions of sea battles, children playing at the water’s edge, quiet sunsets and colossal container ships, it will reveal how profoundly the sea has shaped our dreams, our life and national identity in the past as well as now.
In 1808, following the bombardment of Copenhagen, Denmark lost its huge fleet. You will witness the history of Denmark as a proud sea-faring nation in war and peace in magnificent paintings by C. W. Eckersberg and Carl Neumann. In contrast to their large ships and spectacular naval battles, Michael and Anna Ancher depict the dangerous life and humble circumstances of fishermen at the Skaw 100 years ago. An early example of the relationship of Danes to the sea as a place of recreation is represented by P. S. Krøyer’s Wait for Us!, in which happy boys are seen racing along the water’s edge.
THE SEA – The Other Landscape also shows the sea as represented by many contemporary artists from all over the world. Experience, for example, Hans ob De Beeck’s Sea of Tranquility, with its ambiguous signals of something between a cruise ship and a warship. Sophie Calle has filmed the first emotional encounter of human individuals with the sea, and Bill Viola’s The Raft sends us right back to the notion of the first flood, the end and new beginning of everything.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue featuring contributions by Troels Kløvedal, Peter Michael Hornung, Lisbeth Bonde, Trine Lindhardt, Mathias Herup, Carsten Jensen and Benjamin Asmussen.
The exhibition is curated by Lene Burkard.
Participating artists: Else Alfelt, Anna Ancher, Michael Ancher, Hans Op de Beeck, Carl Bille, Christian Blache, Carl Baagøe, Helge Bertram, Oscar Björck, Christian Blache, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Gustave Doré, Holger Drachmann, Dankvart Dreyer, C.W. Eckersberg, Torben Eskerod, Erwitt Elliott, Palle From, Fritz Henle, Jacob Hashimoto, Einar Hein, Valdemar Irminger, Viggo Johansen, Ruprecht von Kaufmann, Christian Krohg, Peder Severin Krøyer, Vilhelm Kyhn, Johannes Larsen, Carl Locher, Gerhard Mantz, Anton Melbye, Vilhelm Melbye, Anna E. Munch, Ulrik Møller, Christian F.A. Mølsted, Carl Neumann, Thorvald Niss, Pipilotti Rist, Paul Pfeiffer, Carl Rasmussen, Vilhelm Rosenstand, Allan Sekula & Noël Burch, Fritz Syberg, Jens Søndergaard, Frits Thaulow, Ernst Zeuten, Bill Viola, Massimo Vitali, Sigurd Wandel, Johannes Wilhjelm, J.F. Willumsen and Flaske Peter
THE SEA – The Other Landscape is supported by the A. P. Møller Foundation.
