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Danish Landscape

Harald Slott-Møller1891

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Denmark

Slott-Møller incorporates the frame as part of the work. In so doing he abolishes the conventional distinctions between art and craft, bringing him perfectly in line with the English artists of the age.

With Danish Landscape, Harald Slott-Møller ushered in his new Symbolist outlook in 1891.

Combining different materials and techniques

Inspired by the English Arts & Crafts movement he abolished the conventional distinctions between art and crafts (or “decorative” art) by combining different materials and techniques. Even so, combining a cast-iron relief of an ear of corn with a naturalistically painted Danish summer landscape complete with a stork and blue skies is Slott-Møller’s own original take on the task at hand: creating a contemporary image to represent the fertility of the Danish countryside.

The storck and the corn as symbols

The gilt plate, the incorporation of the frame as an element with real significance to the total idiom, and the decorative stork symmetrically placed between the white clouds all ensure that the somewhat heavy-handed fertility symbols - the stork and the grain - do not make spectators take recourse in Danish patriotic art idioms when interpreting the painting.

Inspired by contemporary English art

The clash between materials and two different pictorial strategies leaves no doubt that Danish Landscape belongs to the 1890s. On the Danish art scene, Agnes and Harald Slott-Møller, both artists as well as husband and wife, were among the few artists who felt a close affinity with contemporary English art. In addition to William Morris (1834-1896), figures such as Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) and the pre-Raphaelites fascinated and inspired the Danish artists.

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  • Title: Danish Landscape
  • Creator: Harald Slott-Møller
  • Creator Lifespan: 1864 København - 1937 København
  • Creator Nationality: Danish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: København
  • Creator Birth Place: København
  • Date Created: 1891
  • Værktekst: Slott-Møller inddrager i dette billede rammen som en del af værket. Hermed ophæver han de konventionelle skillelinjer mellem kunst og kunsthåndværk; helt i tråd med samtidens engelske kunstnere. Med Dansk landskab markerede Harald Slott-Møller i 1891 sin nye symbolistiske orientering. Kombinationen af materialer og teknikker Inspireret af den engelske Arts & Crafts-bevægelse ophævede han de konventionelle skillelinjer mellem kunst og kunsthåndværk ved at kombinere forskellige materialer og teknikker. At kombinere en støbejernsplade med kornaks i relief med et stykke dansk naturalistisk malet sommerlandskab med stork og blå himmel er dog Slott-Møllers egen originale løsning på opgaven at skabe et tidssvarende udtryk for det danske landskabs frugtbarhed. Storkene og kornaksene Den forgyldte plade, inddragelsen af rammen som betydningsbærende form og den dekorativt, symmetrisk placerede stork mellem de hvide skyer, sikrer, at de ellers noget håndfaste frugtbarhedssymboler, storken og kornaksene, ikke får beskueren til at retirere til den danske nationalromantik. Inspiration fra den samtidige engelske kunst I sammenstødet mellem materialerne og to forskellige billedstrategier er man ikke i tvivl om, at 'Dansk landskab' hører til i 1890’erne. I dansk kunst var ægteparret Agnes og Harald Slott-Møller blandt de få, som følte sig på bølgelængde med den samtidige engelske kunst. Foruden William Morris (1834-1896) var det især Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) og prærafaelitterne, der fascinerede og inspirerede de danske kunstnere.
  • Teknik: Olie og guldbronze på støbejernsplade i relief
  • Proveniens: Depositum fra privateje 1998
  • Provenance: Acquired 1998
  • Physical Dimensions: w70 x h41 cm (Without frame)
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=1218
  • Dansk Titel: Dansk landskab
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil and gold on metal plate relief
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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