Series of Lectures: Danish Landscape Painting at the End of the 18th Century

Lectures that will see Danish landscape painting from c. 1770 to c. 1810 in an entirely new light. NB: The lectures will be given in Danish.

Jens Juel: View of the Little Belt from a hill near Middelfart, Funen, c. 1800.

The landscape painting of this era is far more significant and substantial than has hitherto been believed. And it is also during this time that we for the first time encounter an independent Danish landscape painting. The period immediately around the turn of the century signifies a great transformation in Western art – including that in Denmark. The French Revolution is the great, visible expression signifying the end of older forms of government and social status.

The wars during and after the age of Napoleon are of great significance for countries in Europe. In Denmark, absolutism is approaching its end. The nobility loses its privileges, agricultural reforms are carried out, and a new middle class gains ground. At the same time, as a result of Denmark’s policy of neutrality trade flourishes as never before in the country. However, it is as though the numerous depictions of storms, sunsets and evenings are already to be seen as warnings of a sudden end. An age and a world are in decline and are illuminated in one final glorious interlude, before the Battle of Copenhagen 1802, the Bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807 and the Danish State Bankruptcy in 1813.

The lectures will be given in Thorvaldsens Museum
on five Tuesdays from 16.00 to 17.30 (8 March – 5 April)

8 March: Moods and Motifs in Danish
Landscape Painting c. 1770-1810
(Stig Miss, Director of Thorvaldsens Museum)

15 March: Cultural Landscape and Landscape Culture c. 1770-1810
Bo Fritzbøger, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen)

22 March: The Romantic Garden and Landscape Painting
(Margrethe Floryan, Curator in Thorvaldsens Museum)

29 March: Back to Nature. The Landscape as a Setting for Human Talent
(Birgitte Zacho, Art Historian)

5 April: Johan Bülow and Sanderumgaard
(Bente Scavenius, Art Historian)

Enrolment via Folkeuniversitetet – Course Number 2011-1049.
Price: 450 kroner. Click here to enrol.