Plant Fever. The World on the Windowsill

Most of us have at least one of them: a house plant! House plants are part and parcel of our homes to such an extent that we seldom think about the fact that many of them originate from tropical and subtropical regions. Embedded in potted plants is a global story about our relationship to nature. This exhibition casts a spotlight on everything that plants do to us – and what we do to them.

 

The exhibition shows how, in the 19th century, plants, so foreign at the time, entered Danish homes. A veritable plant fever spread, and in next to no time these plants became a natural part of everyday life. The potted plant is a much overlooked, yet frequent element in the paintings we thought we knew so well. A geranium fragments the light in the background of Anna Ancher’s Girl Sewing, ivy creeps up the wall in Christen Købke’s portrait of her artist colleague, and the living room in Anna Syberg’s work is chock-a-block with pots of spring flowers. Many artists had house plants, which they tended and then featured in their paintings. Now we reveal the stories that house plants tell about our relationship with nature.

 

The exhibition is a collaboration with Ordrupgaard and a group of researchers from Aarhus University.

Augustinus Fonden, Axel Muusfeldts Fond, Knud Højgaards Fond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Velux Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond