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Copenhagen, Denmark
Galleri Nicolai Wallner
David Shrigley
Dates: 1 Nov 09 - 30 Nov 09
Categories: Contemporary (1970-present)
Address: Njalsgade 21, Building 15 Copenhagen DK 2300
Tel: +45 33 57 09 70 Website
Kunstindustrimuseet, Danish Museum of Art and Desi
KIM's Shoe Shine
Dates: 28 Aug 09 - 31 Dec 09
Categories: Contemporary (1970-present)
Address: Bredgade 68 Copenhagen DK-1260
Tel: +45 33 185 656 Website
The Global Poster
Dates: 2 Oct 09 - 31 Jan 10
Categories: Modern (1900-1945)
Address: Bredgade 68 Copenhagen DK-1260
Tel: +45 33 185 656 Website
Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre
Rethink
Dates: 30 Oct 09 - 3 Jan 10
Categories: Curious
Address: Nikolaj Plads 10 Copenhagen 1067
Tel: +45 3318 1780 Website
Nils Staerk
Superflex
Dates: 30 Oct 09 - 19 Dec 09
Categories: Contemporary (1970-present)
Address: Ny Carlsberg VEJ 68 Copenhagen DK 1760
Tel: +45 3254 4562 Website
Ordrupgaard Museum
Munch and Denmark
Dates: 3 Sep 09 - 6 Dec 09
Categories: Modern (1900-1945)
Address: Vilvordevej 110 Copenhagen DK-2920
Tel: +45 39 64 11 83 Website
Edvard Munch and Denmark
Dates: 4 Sep 09 - 3 Jan 10
Categories: Modern (1900-1945)
Address: Vilvordevej 110 Copenhagen DK-2920
Tel: +45 39 64 11 83 Website
Statens Museum of Art
Nature Strikes Back
Dates: 10 Oct 09 - 7 Mar 10
Categories: Curious
Address: Sølvgade 48-50 Copenhagen DK-1307
Tel: +45 33 74 84 94 Website
Impact
Dates: 31 Oct 09 - 31 Mar 10
Categories: Contemporary (1970-present)
Address: Sølvgade 48-50 Copenhagen DK-1307
Tel: +45 33 74 84 94 Website
Nicolai Abildgaard: Revolution Embodied
Dates: 29 Aug 09 - 3 Jan 10
Categories: Old Master
Address: Sølvgade 48-50 Copenhagen DK-1307
Tel: +45 33 74 84 94 Website
Nicolai Abildgaard (1743-1809) is little known outside Denmark. Although his years of study in Rome (1772-77) brought him into contact with artists such as Füssli and with the early Romantic currents that prized Shakespeare, Homer, Ossian and Norse mythology, his style throughout his career remained committedly classical. His early training at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, his study tour of Italy and his tenure as professor (and intermittently as director) of the academy from 1778 until his death, were dedicated to the ideals of Titian, Raphael, Michelangelo, the Carraccis, Poussin and Claude. The peaks of his career were the commission in 1780 to decorate the Knights’ Hall of the Christiansborg Palace with 10 monumental history paintings (seven were destroyed by a fire in 1794) and a decorative project at what is now Christian VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg (1794-98). Abildgaard’s success was, however, frustrated by his uninhibited expressions of liberal, anti-monarchical and anti-religious views and his endorsement of the French Revolution—even after the Terror (summed up in Jupiter Weighs the Fate of Mankind, 1794) when many European supporters were disillusioned. Unlike Goethe or David, he was unable to make the necessary adjustments to adapt his thinking to a changed world nor to temper his classicising style with the insights afforded by Romantic interiority and emotional expressiveness.
Nevertheless, in this show of 150 of his paintings, his technical mastery is obvious, especially in his handling of colour, his harmonious tones and the power of some of his subjects (shown above, The Wounded Philoctetes, 1775). The fact that Abildgaard doesn’t quite make it to the first 11, the fact that he was the teacher of such stars as Bertel Thorvaldsen, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and Philipp Otto Runge, warrants our recognition and attention. This is the final leg of a three-stop tour, having been seen at the Louvre and the Hamburger Kunsthalle. It will be interesting to see if the artist undergoes a more favourable reassessment in the wake of this extensive European exposure. Donald Lee
The Wounded Philoctetes, 1775
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