SOLDIERS. ART AND THE DANES AT WAR 1848-1864

Berlingske: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Kristeligt Dagblad: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Kulturinformation:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Politiken: ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ 

The major special exhibition this spring and summer casts a spotlight on the people who went to war and the people who remained at home during the 1848-1864 Schleswig Wars – the wars that cemented the national soul of Denmark.

Women were parted from their husbands, mothers were compelled to bid farewell to their sons, and children had to do without their fathers. Society changed; people were forced to adapt. Not only did families have to mourn the dead; they also had to accommodate the soldiers returning from the wars, scarred in both body and soul. The fatherland was forced to find its feet again and recover hope, which returned slowly but surely – something this exhibition also reflects.

The exhibition also tells the stories of the young men who, as soldiers, played a leading role in the culture of the age for the first time. Soldiers fulfilling their military service, volunteer students and seamen – all were heroized in large-scale battle paintings. Back home, families could follow their loved ones in the pictorial coverage created by artists in the field.

Soldiers. Art and the Danes at War, 1848-1864 features works by such artists as Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann, Niels Simonsen, Jørgen V. Sonne, Johan Thomas Lundbye and Christen Dalsgaard. Herman Wilhelm Bissen’s A Victorious Danish Soldier sets the scene the moment visitors enter the door to the beautiful rooms of the museum.

Three powerful video stories feature Danish veterans talking about their experience of deployment and the society to which they returned. Art historians and historians explain and elaborate upon several of the great works in the exhibition.

Explore the open, spectacular exhibition architecture, created by the award-winning exhibition architects/set designers Anne Schnettler and Nanna Arnfred.

Listen to the curators Rasmus Kjærboe and Camilla Klitgaard Laursen talk about the exhibition SOLDIERS. ART AND THE DANES AT WAR 1848-1864.



Listen to senior researcher, PhD at the National Museum, Karsten Skjold Petersen, talk about the pictures, the soldiers and the Schleswig wars.

Augustinus Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansen Fonden, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Dronning Margrethes og Prins Henriks Fond, Knud Højgaards Fond

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