How did women artists represent the modern breakthrough? What are the interactions between visual art and the commercial art market? And how can art museums become a platform for local and social communities and reach out to new users? These are just some of the questions that scholars will be investigating over the following year as a result of the New Carlsberg Foundation’s Research Initiative. Recently, the New Carlsberg Foundation handed out a total of DKK 20.3 million to 13 art research projects, including PhD and post doc scholarships and individual project funding.

Innovation

The research funds under the New Carlsberg Foundation’s Research Initiative are distributed on the basis of project applications: ‘In a time when research within the humanities has been subject to significant budget cuts, we are very pleased to be able to support the realization of several original and relevant research projects. The projects represent a high degree of innovation, and we are seeing a trend towards more interdisciplinary partnerships that involve a growing range of fields. We are convinced that this will make a positive contribution to the quality of art research,’ says Christine Buhl Andersen, chairwoman of the New Carlsberg Foundation.  

Building a connection between universities and museums

The New Carlsberg Foundation’s Research Initiative was launched in 2010 with the aim of generating new research-based knowledge about art while building a connection between university and museum research. The scholars are employed by a university but share their working hours with the museums. Through their teaching obligation, the scholars thus bring their museum-related topic of research into the university context and their university research environment into the museums.

Thirteen new projects

These are the new research projects funded by the New Carlsberg Foundation’s Research Initiative:

‘About the Artist Hans Smidth and Realism, Naturalism and Impressionism Before and After 1900’ 
Museum: Museum Salling
University: Aarhus University
Format: PhD scholarship

‘The Danish Type Design Tradition 1890–1970’
Museum: Designmuseum Danmark
Educational institution: Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation
Format: PhD scholarship

‘How Can the Art Museum and Its Communication Constitute a Platform for Local and Social Communities that Include New Users?’
Museum: Skovgaard Museum
University: Aarhus University
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘Developing a More Nuanced Understanding of Genre Painting and Improving Connections Within the Museum’s Collection Areas’
Museum: The Nivaagaard Collection
University: Aarhus University
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘National Galleries During a Time of Upheaval and Transformation’
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
University: Aarhus University
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘Negotiating Fields of Knowledge in Institutions of contemporary art’
Museum: Kunsthal Aarhus
University: Aarhus University
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘Satirical Reactions to New Forms of Censorship’
Museum: Frederiksbergmuseerne
University: University of Copenhagen
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘Re-Energizing Art Institutions at the Intersection’
Museum: Medical Museion
University: University of Copenhagen
Format: postdoc scholarship

‘The Women’s Modern Breakthrough’
Institution: The Hirschsprung Collection
Scholarship recipient: Lene Bøgh Rønberg
Format: individual project funding

‘The Open Curriculum. Critical Studies of the Educational Approaches of Art Education’
Institution: Royal Danish Academy
Scholarship recipient: Stine Hebert
Format: individual project funding

‘Danish-Japanese Art Connections Before and After World War Two. A Record and Study of Three Danish Artists’ Encounter With Japanese Art and Culture Between 1930 and 1970’
Institution: HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art
Scholarship recipient: Mette Højsgaard
Format: individual project funding

‘The Commodification of Art. The Discreet Dynamics of Art and Money in a Market-Driven Economy’
Institution: CBS, Copenhagen Business School
Scholarship recipient: Flemming Friborg
Format: individual project funding

‘A Monograph About Charlotte Johannesson’
Institution: Aarhus University
Scholarship recipient: Lars Bang Larsen
Format: individual project funding