Danish Art

In 2018, it is 100 years ago since Wilhelm and Henny Hansen oppened their home Ordrupgaard in Charlottenlund for art interested visitors. Today, the museum houses one of Northern Europe’s most important collections of Danish and French art from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The museum ...director, Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark, introduce us to the book Danish art at Ordrupgaard, Wilhelm Hansen and the Danish artists and works he collected in the years 1892 to 1916.

Ordrupgaard’s art collection became Denmark’s first modern collection of Danish and French art. The collection was started in 1892 with the purchase of a small picture of a cow painted by Johan Th. Lundbye. Several other Golden Age works were soon to become part of the collection, but it primarily teatred works of art from Wilhelm Hansen’s own time. There was art from the 1880s and not least the great era of the Free Exhibition in the 1890s. With the emphasis placed on the uniqueness of the symbolically emphasized realism, L.A. Ring and Vilhelm Hammershøi, the Danish ‘impressionist’ Theodor Philipsen, as well as the so-called Funen painters – in addition to the Eckersberg School and the National Romanian landscape art.

Ordrupgaard closes in 2018 until 2020 in connection with the construction of the new extension Himmelhaven, which is designed by the Norwegian architect company Snøhetta. Wilhelm Hansen himself was a modern and idealistic man who wanted to share his impressive art collection with his fellow citizens: it is therefore entirely in his spirit that his art collection now is more accesaisble through the book release and a forthcoming tour in Denmark, where the Danish art collection can be experienced in a number of Danish museums.

“We hope that a lot of Danes will enjoy the collection – both those who have already experienced it at Ordrupgaard, and those who have never been here. The tour is a unique opportunity to share one of Denmark’s finest art collections with the rest of the country, and we look forward to meeting our artworks and guests around the country, “says Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark.

Author: Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark
Publication year: 2018
Published by: Ordrupgaard
Language Danish
Pages: 158
Dimensions: 23.5 x 23.5 cm
Publisher: In commission at Strandberg Publishing for Ordrupgaard