Assignment #2

            Hello everyone, with Copenhagen behind me, it is time for me to report on my thoughts and the artworks I have seen. First off, I’d like to talk a little about the city itself. Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and the most populous city in the country of over 1.4 million residents in the urban area. Copenhagen started as a fishing village before it became the capital of the country in the early 15^th century. Copenhagen stands as Denmark’s cultural, economic, and governmental center. Although I only stayed there two nights, I could tell how much activity took place in Copenhagen. It was a very busy city, and there were a lot of people in every place we were at. I’d also like to note, as something I noticed regarding differences of culture, the people in Copenhagen do not have “personal bubbles” as Americans do. It was a bit of a struggle trying to adapt to strangers touching me, but I did my best to focus on other parts of the experience. Unlike Hamburg, Denmark is not quite as walkable, but there are a lot of cyclists. Because of the wider space between areas, we didn’t get as much time to walk around museums, and it took time to reach them as well. I was a little disappointed that distance became a bit of a problem. Copenhagen is similar to the United States in that sense, disregarding the biking of course, that is something not typically seen on urban streets in the United States.

            The first museum we visited was Statens Museum for Kunst, or the national gallery of Denmark. The original building was finished in 1896 and a modern addition was added in 1998. These two buildings are linked by a glass corridor and bridges that, quite literally, link the past with the present. The gallery hosts an impression collection of works from the Danish golden age, and I was very excited to spend my time there. Instead of seeing everything in the museum, I spent my time looking at the paintings and sculptures dating from 1300 to mid-1900. I actually had a bit of a difficult time picking which work I would feature here, but I finally decided on Rudolph Tegner’s Sepulchral Monument to the Artist’s Mother, Signe Tegner, 1899.

 Tegner was greatly influenced by Michelangelo’s works, and that influence can be seen on the rough, unfinished stone in this work. Tegner was also influenced by art nouveau and erotic realism, his works were highly controversial because of this. The sculpture is carved of marble and was made in the year Tegner’s mother died; it is her grave marker. A bronze recreation stands where the marble original once did. Tenger inscribed the marble with the phrase “To Earth You Must Stay.” The woman in the stone is surrendering to mother earth, turning away from life. I really gravitated towards this piece because it is the first time, I can recall seeing a sculpture made as a grave marker. I find the subject to be bittersweet and beautiful.

            The second museum was Designmuseum Denmark which, as I have already mentioned in a previous post, is a former royal hospital. On top of being a museum for art and design, the Designmuseum is the largest library in Scandinavia dedicated to industrial design and decorative arts. This museum was smaller, and I’ll admit I am not well-versed in the art of design. However, there were many impressive artworks I enjoyed. I left this museum with the intent to do further research on design, I’d like to better understand the significance of the artworks. The pieces I’ve chosen to research for this assignment are five silk ribbons from Europe dating between 1800 and 1900.

Ornately decorated ribbons used to be an important part of clothing, especially for women. Also known as Rococo embroidery, silk embroidery is as old as the history of the ribbon but made its first appearance in England around the start of the 17^th century. With silk being a symbol of status and embroidery being a showcase of delicate skill, it’s no wonder these pieces were highly valued and important to many outfits, especially ceremonial ones. I found these ribbons beautiful, and I was surprised to find the thread used to embroider them had its own name as “embroidery floss.”

The third and final museum we visited was an hour outside of Copenhagen, heading north towards Helsingør. This museum was also smaller, but the grounds were seaside and beautiful. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art was very pretty in its architecture and placement. They had works by artists like Dana Schutz and Andy Warhol. The collection was impressive, and I may have mentioned before, I am not overtly fond of modern or contemporary art. Regardless, there were pieces I found very appealing, and I enjoyed my tour of this museum. The work I selected is from Jean Tinguely, Kinetic Relief II, 1955.

 Tinguely was a Swiss sculpture best known for his kinetic sculptural machines, also known as métamatics. Tinguely’s works were often satirical regarding automatons and the overproduction of material goods. Tinguely worked in Dada, Surrealism, Modern art, and the Nouveau Réalisme art movements. His second wife was Niki De Saint Phalle, and the two often created works together. As other Dada artists did when making this piece, Tinguely followed the one rule of Dada-never follow any rules.

            The museums we visited in Copenhagen had a large focus on design and art from the 20^th century onwards. Despite these works not being my preferred areas, I really did enjoy engaging with artworks that I didn’t immediately “understand.” It is refreshing to view an artwork and wonder why it is so significant, why it is good or why it is not. I am always happy to challenge my own views on art and this trip did well in that respect. Copenhagen was not as walkable as Hamburg, but the citizens still benefit from a wide variety of museums and galleries. I look forward to my next trip and the art that I will see.