Danish Highlights: Art & Music & ….

I could spend forever talking about Denmark. It might be a small country, but it holds a big place in my heart. Having been there for three weeks, there’s so much more I could share with you but now I’m going to have to limit myself to just some of the highlights of my time there…..if I can do that. It won’t be easy.

I always imagine I can do so much more than I can actually do. I thought I might be able to spend some time making art, but other than painting a few fish-shaped rocks, very little art happened. However, thanks to Lisbeth and Helle, two of my dear Danish ex-au pairs, I was went to Denmark’s National Art Gallery and it was a huge treat. They met me there and took me around the museum, where we also had lunch. It’ a regular hang-out place for Helle so she served as a terrific guide. In the photo, Helle is on the right, Lisbeth on the left. THe background is the gorgeous new addition to the older building…such a spectacular solution to melding new with old. The photo beneath it, shows the older museum building from the front.

I especially loved the classic Danish paintings, many of which were portraits. The details on some of them were wonderful….like the one I’m posting, which shows two women who were apparently flirting with the painter and the young man, who didn’t like the painter for that reason. If you can zoom in on the table, there are flies or yellow jackets there…and one is buzzing around the wine decanter as well (so probably yellow jackets?) I just love the way this painting tells a story and maybe even suggests a time of year… fall, the time of yellow jackets.

Another painting I particularly enjoyed for the story it told was this one of a shepherd who is knitting. At the time the painting was made, things were tough for sheep farmers so they knitted to make a little extra money. If you look closely at his clothes you can see how often they’ve been mended….or not.

I also like how he has cleverly found a way to keep his wool handy by attaching it in some way to his jacket.

The painting of the family is by Christoffer Eckersberg (b.1783), who was called “the father of Danish painting.” It shows a couple who have just arrived home to their children, after having had an audience with the queen. But there’s another story underlying that one. The explanation next to the painting says, that the father, a merchant named Mendel Levin Nathanson “wished to show that he, being Jewish, was fully integrated in society. A leading figure within the integration of the Jewish people in Denmark, he was also a great patron of Danish art and culture” and one of this painter’s most important supporters.

While staying at the summer house, one day we drove by a local gallery in a lovely old farmhouse. Curious about both the art and the farmhouse, I suggested we stop by and we were so glad we did. It’s a beautiful old place, surrounded by gardens and with a lawn that runs down to the sea. The artist’s name is Susanne Mainsoe, and she does lovely oils…mostly of her local landscape. The old farm they have refurbished is a B&B, and she holds art workshops there. Her husband is also an artist as well as an extraordinary gardener, as you can see from the photos.

This particular painting of Susanne‘s looks exactly like the beach at the summer house. I’m sure I could learn lots from her and it’s mighty tempting to think of taking a workshop!

Burial Mounds: A Precursor of my upcoming Irish trip

So…..there are thousands of these ancient burial mounds in Denmark….passage graves, not unlike the ones in Ireland. In fact very very much like them. They were built around the same time and what is frustrating me is that I can’t seem to find who started it. Ireland says nothing about Denmark and vice versa, though I asked one of our Irish guides who tersely said that yes, they are related but that was all he had to say on the matter. My guess is that since the Celts came to Ireland from elsewhere maybe that style of burial did as well? Seems like everyone wants to be the original.

Anyway we drove by one, so Hans and I stopped to check it out. No fanfare. No guides. No lock on the door. No fancy signage. I thought Hans was pretty brave to crawl under there.