Dead Man’s Hill. Vilhelm Kyhn and Skagen

Corner Display

7 October – 30 December 2020

An unexpected scene emerged amidst the barren dunes when conservation work was recently undertaken on Vilhelm Kyhn’s (1819–1903) painting Dunes of Skagen from 1845. Underneath a coat of paint that had been added after the artist’s own lifetime, a burial scene revealed itself by the foot of the tall dunes. In this autumn’s Corner Display, we delve into the hidden motifs of the painting and look at the work through the keenly investigative gaze of the art historian and conservator.

Watch the film about the painting

In the film, conservator Loa Ludvigsen talks about the conservation work done on the painting, and curator Camilla Klitgaard Laursen takes us to nineteenth-century North Jutland, presenting a possible scenario of what may have happened to Vilhelm Kyhn’s painting after the artist’s own brush left the canvas.