Art in Denmark

Denmark is rich in craftsmen, who can often be visited in their galleries, potteries, glass and candle factories, weaving mills or other workshops around the country. Here you can observe the artists as they work and perhaps buy some of their art and unique specimens. In more candle factories you are able to make your own candles. At these Danish places you can see and buy everything from beautiful oil and watercolour paintings to graphics, lithographs, life-drawings, paper collages, figures and sculptures, made out of granite, gypsum, iron, wood etc., hand-made candles, home-made soaps, flower decorations, knitwear, woollens, textile art, leather goods, glass art in all colours and shades, amber ornaments, ceramic ware, raku as well as articles for everyday use of wood and pottery. The Art and Culture of Denmark are rich in its diversity and variety. However, there are some general characteristics of Danish Art and culture, associated with Danish society and daily life. Danish people are generally fun loving sympathetic, and expressive.

 

Denmark art & culture is considered as one of the most socially progressive art and cultures in the world. In the Danish Golden Age, an era of outstanding achievement in the first half of the 19th century, European Neoclassicism and Romanticism found a Danish expression, with concepts such as the Skagen and Funen Schools evolving out of some of the finest landscape painting, while prominent Danish members of the European COBRA group such as Asger Jorn took their inspiration from the artistry of their Viking forebears. Danish artists have drawn inspiration from international movements yet also from their own Danish styles, both historical and contemporary. Even the most modern of Denmark’s fine artists are avatars of bygone artistic idioms, and a trip round Denmark’s many museums of art is a journey back into a thousand-year history as captured on canvas – from sacked medieval forts to avant - garde Danish architecture. Denmark has a wealthy cultural and intellectual heritage . Hans Christian Andersen is known worldwide for his moralistic fairy tales, such as "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", and "The Ugly Duckling". Karen Blixen, the famous Nobel laureate author Henrik Pontoppidan, and the Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard have also made a name for themselves outside Denmark. Modern Danish film makers have also shown considerable efforts in the film making art. Some famous Danish film makers are Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The most popular sport in Denmark is football, which is also a distinctive part of Danish art and culture. Apart from soccer, sailing and water sports are also popular in Denmark. Many sports, such as badminton, handball and gymnastics are equally popular in Denmark.

 

Danish Music

The Danish music scene offers a wide variety of genres and traditions, so you are bound to find something that you will enjoy when listening to music from Denmark. Most famous outside of the country these days are artists from the pop and alternative rock scenes, such as The Raveonettes, Alphabeat, Duné and Mew. But quite a few electronic artists like Trentemøller, Laid Back and Thomas Knark have also made names for themselves internationally. Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival has acquired an international reputation. Opera has continued to figure prominently on the Danish music scene, thanks in part to the Copenhagen Opera House which was opened in 2000. Although the majority of performances cover the works of the well-known European composers, Danish operas are also included from time to time. Did you know that ABBA played their first live concert in Denmark in 1974? ABBA started their Tour of Europe in Denmark on November 17, 1974, playing at Falconer Centret, Copenhagen, before continuing their tour around.

 

Danish Art

Danish art goes back thousands of years. From the late 18th century on, with the beginning of the Danish Golden Age, a distinct tradition of Danish art has continued to flourish until today. Church wall paintings are to be found in some 600 churches across Denmark, no doubt representing the highest concentration of surviving church murals anywhere in the world. Around the beginning of the 19th century the Golden Age of Danish Painting emerged to form a distinct national style for the first time since the Middle Ages; the period lasted until the middle of the 19th century. Collections of modern art enjoy unusually attractive settings at the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen and at the North Jutland Art Museum in Aalborg. The National Museum of Art and the Glyptotek, both in Copenhagen, contain treasures of Danish and international art.

 

Danish Literature

Danish literature, a subset of Scandinavian literature, stretches back to the Middle Ages. Of special note across the centuries are the historian Saxo Grammaticus, the playwright Ludvig Holberg, the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, and Karen Blixen who achieved worldwide fame with her autobiographical story Out of Africa. Though Danish literature is often associated with famous authors like Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, Karen Blixen and Peter Høeg several other Danish authors have created works and oeuvres which attract both national and international attention. Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Little Match Girl", and the "The Ugly Duckling". During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by royalty. His poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150 languages. They have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets, and animated films.

 

Danish Ceramics

In idyllic surroundings in Middelfart with views across the Little Belt lies Denmark’s Museum of International Ceramic Art Denmark, Grimmerhus – the Nordic region’s only specialist museum of ceramic art. Built as a dower house in 1857, the building was designed by architect Johan Daniel Herholdt and modelled on Italian 16th-century villas. Besides the changing exhibitions, the museum also houses Denmark’s largest private collection of Danish ceramics from 1890 to the present day. The collector behind the many nice pieces is Erik Veistrup, whose self-diagnosis is Ceramics-mania.

 

Glassware

One advantage of buying hand-blown glass is being able to bring home something truly unique. When it comes to Danish glassware, the 700-year-old market town of Ebeltoft leads the field. You can’t miss Glasmuseet Ebeltoft on Strandvejen, right beside the Frigate Jylland. The museum in the former custom house has just been enlarged by 795 m2. The new extension, with its glass and white rendered brickwork, protrudes elegantly over the water. The café patio provides a magnificent view over the tall ships docks, Ebeltoft Vig and Mols Bjerge. But the most popular part of the extension is the Glashytte (glassworks) in the museum gardens. Here, you can watch the glassblowers transform the molten, syrupy mass into drinking glasses, votives and bowls, which are on sale in the shop. After the glass museum, we recommend a stroll through Ebeltoft. The little glass galleries are stretched out like a string of pearls. This is also where the glass museum’s founder, Finn Lynggaard, has his glass studio and gallery. A little over 30 years ago, Finn Lynggaard became the first Dane to experiment with glass purely as an art medium, melting down fragments of glass and soda bottles to make colourful sculptures.

 

Jewellery

Jewellery lovers will find items for their wish-lists in the legendary Galerie Metal. The little basement gallery on Nybrogade by Gammel Strand has existed since 1978 and is the oldest exhibition centre in Denmark for jewellery art and modern silverware. A group of jewellery specialists – including the renowned Camilla Prasch, Karina Noyons and Nicolai Appel – run the place. And the exhibitions challenge the prevalent perception of jewellery art with accessories to embellish the male or female body in a rich array of materials ranging from gold, silver and precious stones to felt, rubber and snooker balls.

 

Workshops

If you’re looking for an authentic experience of craft art in Copenhagen, head away from Strøget and down the little side streets – or, perhaps better still, head for design-savvy Vesterbro. Here, the little combined workshops, outlets and galleries will tempt you with the avant-garde side of tailor-made clothing, jewellery art and ceramics. It is no longer sufficient for things to work – now they must also tell a story. Craft art is well equipped to deliver the genuine article with all the intimacy and uniqueness of a personal fingerprint. In the workshop outlet, you can meet your designer and you can also learn about the background to the objects. The Danish Crafts information centre has provided detailed listings of craft art outlets nationwide. At Amagertorv, there are exhibitions of the centre's own collection of contemporary Danish utility art, selected by different guest curators.