Most of us have at least one of them: a houseplant. In fact, Denmark has the highest number of houseplants per person anywhere in the world. In the upcoming special exhibition Plant Fever. The World on the Windowsill, created by The Hirschsprung Collection and Ordrupgaard, the two museums are the first ever to focus on the houseplants that surround us in our homes and daily lives. The result is a major exhibition that unfolds across both museums.

With the exhibition Plant Fever. The World on the Windowsill, Ordrupgaard and The Hirschsprung Collection tell the story of how a wealth of imported plants, then regarded as highly exotic, made their way into Danish homes in the nineteenth century. A veritable plant craze spread, and soon those previously foreign plants became a natural part of everyday life. Houseplants feature prominently in nineteenth-century paintings and drawings. Yet the hidden stories of these plants and their global origins remain an unexplored angle in Danish art history. That is now being changed by The Hirschsprung Collection and Ordrupgaard.

The plants were moved across vast distances as part of the large-scale plant transfers that began in earnest in the seventeenth century – displacements that transformed the flora and fauna of multiple continents. While many of the plants were or became endangered in their native habitats, they flourished in European living rooms. The plants brought Europe’s colonial history into the home. At the same time, people and plants formed a bond that opened – and continues to open – up ways of entering into a more caring, diverse and historically aware relationship with nature.

The exhibitions feature works by artists such as Christen Købke, Bertha Wegmann, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna Ancher, Christine Swane, Martinus Rørbye, Kristian Zahrtmann and Anna Syberg. In addition, at Ordrupgaard, visitors will find works by contemporary artists such as Camilla Berner, Jesper Christiansen and Randi & Katrine. At The Hirschsprung Collection, guests will also discover contemporary works created specifically for the exhibition by artists Jeannette Ehlers, Viktoria Wendel Skousen and Shëkufe Tadayoni Heiberg.

The exhibition Plant Fever. The World on the Windowsill is part of the research project Hidden Plant Stories, involving scholars from Aarhus University as well as from The Hirschsprung Collection and Ordrupgaard. The comprehensive exhibition and research catalogue will be published by Aarhus University Press.

The Hirschsprung Collection and Ordrupgaard wishes to thank the following foundations for their generous support of the exhibition and catalogue:

The Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation
The Augustinus Foundation
The Axel Muusfeldt Foundation
The Knud Højgaard Foundation
The New Carlsberg Foundation