Danish Art 1780-1930
Exhibition
Experience Masterpieces of Danish Art from the Collection
The first floor of the Dahlerup building features a selection of works from the Glyptotek’s Danish collection. All of the works were created by artists between the late 18th century and the early decades of the 20th century.
The artists include Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann, Jens Juel, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Christen Købke, Johan Thomas Lundbye, Martinus Rørbye, Peder Severin Krøyer, Astrid Noack, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, Vilhelm Hammershøi and Edvard Weie.
Including a range of major Danish artworks, the exhibition provides insight into key themes and motifs of the period: for example nature studies, landscape painting, model studies, portraits and the fascination of the artists with antiquity.
What binds them together is the story of the extraordinary art collection that Carl Jacobsen started in the late 19th century.
The exhibition also spotlights the artist Kai Nielsen, whose works ranged from monumental sculptures to small statuettes in different materials and made him one of the most prominent Danish sculptors of the early 20th century.
The rooms on the 1st floor provide a view of Kai Nielsen’s marble sculpture, The Water Mother, which he created for the Winter Garden.
New Acquisition
The exhibition also features a new work in the collection: a testamentary gift to the Glyptotek. This portrait by Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann (1819-1881) depicts her daughter, Sophie Dagmar Elisabeth, known as ‘Sofy’ (1859-1944). On 4 November 1878, the 19-year-old Sophie was married to Christian Frederik Emil von Holstein-Rathlou (1849-1919), Master of the King’s Hunt and owner of Rathlousdal Manor near Odder in the region of Jutland. When the portrait was painted in 1879, Sophie had just been awarded the title of Mistress of the King’s Hunt.
The portrait depicts the young, newlywed Sophie sitting on a red-upholstered chair. Her face is in profile, but her body is turned slightly, providing an almost frontal view of her torso. Sophie is wearing a bright red, lace-trimmed dress and a striking necklace. It resembles a type of Bedouin jewellery that Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann featured in several of her orientalist portraits of women, painted after her many travels to Egypt, Greece and present-day Turkey.
Together, Sophie’s slightly blushing face, velvety red dress, buttery golden hair and distinctive gold necklace create an exceptional sensuousness and correspondence of colour – a hallmark of Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann’s paintings.
The von Holstein-Rathlou couple created quite a stir in their time. The story goes that Christian Frederik Emil von Holstein-Rathlou was an eccentric chap. In 1878, in the manor’s woodland, he established a deer park, to which people had free access: features included a spectacular bear cave. Then, in 1899 he purchased the island of Hesselø in the Kattegat.
On the island, he released exotic animals and built a summer residence designed by the architect Martin Nyrop. Here, the couple, together with their seven children, other family members and friends, spent their summers, partying and hunting.
Even in her time, Polish-born Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann was a singular figure: internationally oriented, well-travelled, an advocate of women’s rights, an ambitious artist and a champion of individual freedom. Jerichau Baumann painted a large number of portraits – of artists, royalty and politicians etc.
She was already represented in the museum’s collection of Danish art with a number of other works. They include the major work Mother Denmark and a portrait of her spouse, Sophie’s father, the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau (1816-1883), a range of whose works is also featured in the exhibition: for example, Sleeping Harvest Girl.
The portrait of Sophie Dagmar Elisabeth von Holstein-Rathlou is a significant addition to the Glyptotek’s collection, adding knowledge both of Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann’s artistic oeuvre and of her biography.
The new acquisition Mistress of the King’s Hunt. S.V. Holstein Rathlou (b. Jerichau), 1879, Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann.
Buy Tickets and Season Tickets
Ticket Types
| Type | Online | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket Adult | DKK 135 | DKK 150 |
| Ticket under 27/ student | DKK 108 | DKK 120 |
| Ticket under 18/child | DKK 0.00 | Free |
Buy entrance tickets online with a 10 % discount.
Please note: Tickets bought online are valid for single use within one year from the purchase date and can be used on any opening date.
Tickets are non-refundable. Discounts can not be combined.
Group discounts can only be obtained by contacting the ticket office at the museum.
Season Ticket
Buy your season ticket here and get free admission to the Glyptotek's exhibitions and discounts on events, in the museum shop and café.