The Collection

Kunstmuseum Brandts' collection encompasses 250 years of Danish art history. Here, we showcase the best from our archives alongside significant new acquisitions.

The works in the exhibition reflect changing artistic views over time. Golden Age painters sought beauty in the ruins of ancient Rome. Social realist H.A. Brendekilde made Danish history with his poignant monument to the exhausted farm laborer who collapsed in the field. Concrete artists celebrated abstraction as a space of freedom and cultivated the clear language of color and form. With a chronological presentation of the collection's most significant periods, the exhibition shows how artists through time have attempted to navigate a complex reality.

Classics such as Jens Juel, H.A. Brendekilde, Vilhelm Hammershøi, and Anna Ancher are displayed side by side with artists like Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann and Agnes Slott-Møller, who have only recently taken their rightful place in art history. The modern collection features fine works by Vilhelm Lundstrøm, Ebba Carstensen, Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Asger Jorn, Poul Gernes, Per Kirkeby, and Kirsten Lockenwitz. The exhibition also presents a selection of the museum's new acquisitions, including contemporary artworks by Nina Beier, Rasmus Myrup, and Benedikte Bjerre.

The exhibition of works from the collection extends to the museum's ground floor, where you can particularly explore sculptures and plaster casts from significant historical periods. The selection includes a few international names, ranging from Myron's "Discobolus" to Gerhard Henning's iconic female figure "Danaë." The human body is a recurring motif in most sculptures, illustrating changing ideals of the body and depictions of men and women. It is striking how Michelangelo's sculpture "The Dying Slave" eroticizes the male slave by portraying him in a traditionally feminine pose.

Contemporary sculpture is represented by Amalie Jakobsen's nearly three-meter-tall work "Future Rock," which is among the museum's new acquisitions.

Kunstmuseum Brandts' collection is supported by Orifarm Group A/S