To mark the 70th anniversary of the Foundation for Danish-Norwegian Cooperation, the New Carlsberg Foundation has donated Thøger Larsen by Per Kirkeby to the foundation. The sculpture now occupies a prominent position at the entrance to the beautiful head office of the Foundation, Lysebu, outside Oslo.
Monument to Danish poet
The Foundation for Danish-Norwegian Cooperation promotes culture and education. Among other activities, the head office, Lysebu, offers accommodation to research fellows and serves as a venue for lectures, seminars and exhibitions. Because art plays such a key role in the foundation’s work, Lysebu is also home to a permanent collection of Danish and Norwegian art, including Per Kirkeby’s painting Lysebu, which is now joined by a sculpture created by the same artist.
The sculpture, titled Thøger Larsen, is Per Kirkeby’s homage to the Danish lyricist from Lemvig, who is remembered especially for several poems that were set to music, including the songs Danmark, nu blunder den lyse nat and Du danske sommer, jeg elsker dig, celebrating Danish summer.
‘Larsen’s poetry is rooted in 1890s symbolism and vitalism with a strong perception of nature that combines portrayals of everyday life and nature with cosmic visions. He was an important influence for other Danish poets, such as Otto Gelsted, William Heinesen, Thorkild Bjørnvig, Frank Jæger, Inger Christensen and others,’ says the chairman of the New Carlsberg Foundation, Karsten Ohrt, about the donation, adding,
‘This combination of science, art and nature perception is also central in Per Kirkeby’s work, which made it a brilliant idea to ask Kirkeby to create this monument to an important Danish poet. Kirkeby, who is also a writer and a poet, finds a kindred spirit in Thøger Larsen. Because they are both so profoundly inspired by nature, I am especially delighted to see them come together in the magnificent Norwegian landscape at Lysebu.’
A war-time history of humanitarian aid
The history of the Foundation for Danish-Norwegian Cooperation begins during the Second World War and is inextricably tied to Norgeshjælpen (Norway Aid), which was one of the biggest humanitarian aid programmes ever staged in Denmark. Nazi occupation created severe food shortages in Norway, but the Norwegian ex-pat community in Denmark initiated a collection drive that resulted in shipments averaging more than 22 tons of food supplies a day from Denmark to Norway.
Before the war was over, discussions began about how to maintain contact between the two countries. In Copenhagen, the Danish government approved a request to use the DKK 16 million that remained from the collection to set up a foundation for Danish-Norwegian cooperation. The Norwegian state donated the Lysebu property to the Foundation for Danish-Norwegian Cooperation in appreciation of the war-time food aid.
