Selected grants

Shortly before Stig Brøgger’s recent and sudden death, the Nevada Museum of Art acquired several works of art by the Danish artist. These pieces, which were a donation from the New Carlsberg Foundation, are included in no less than two exhibitions at the museum this year.

Kofoeds Skole (Kofoed’s School), an independent school on Amager in Copenhagen for people who are socially marginalized, has a new smoking space that is also a work of art. Or is it the other way round? The artist duo Randi & Katrine have created Copenhagen’s most beautiful outdoor smoking space, which has been realized thanks to a donation from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen and Michael Geertsen each have their own unique approach to the clay, but they both challenge and renew the medium of ceramics. With support from the New Carlsberg Foundation, Musée des Arts Décoratifs now adds a number of works by the two artists to its collection.

Copenhagen was a popular topic during the early 20th century, when many artists portrayed it as the Paris of the North. Among them was the Danish modernist Svend Johansen, who introduced a new, grandiose style in his interpretations of the city from the 1920s. Now, one of his principal paintings, from 1926, is added to Øregaard Museum’s collection thanks to a donation from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Nina Beier lets us see things in a new light by combining and juxtaposing familiar everyday objects in thought-provoking arrangements. In her sculpture Empire, hand-decorated porcelain milk jugs, bowls and plates are carefully stacked inside a white birdcage, the tower of Danish china resembling an exotic caged bird. ARKEN now adds the sculpture to its collection with support from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Erik A. Frandsen’s The Cave was created during the corona lockdown and examines the home as an unavoidable and insistent topic. Thanks to a donation from the New Carlsberg Foundation, the piece has now been added to Trapholt’s permanent collection.

An avid skier, Per Kirkeby visited the Norwegian mountain village of Mysusæter several times. During his stays, he also made time to paint and draw the beautiful landscape in eastern Norway. In 2005, he created a suite of works from the area that Lillehammer Art Museum can now add to its collection. The purchase was supported by the New Carlsberg Foundation.

When Kunstforeningen Gl. Strand reopens after the Covid shutdown, it will be in a somewhat different form. With the exhibition ‘Community of Fragments’ Thomas Hirschhorn has created a large site-specific installation that extends over two floors. The New Carlsberg Foundation supports the exhibition publication.

With water as their thematic focus, the artist duo Randi & Katrine have created Hammam, which shines a light on the Turkish bath houses in Istanbul, both as a central aspect of the city’s architectural history and as an unavoidable element of everyday life in the city. Istanbul Modern now adds the piece to its collection thanks to a grant from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

After the destructive fire in 2019, the House of Denmark on Champs-Élysées in Paris has now been restored. The exhibition hall, which has been re-designed by the architecture firm COBE, is ready to open. While the physical reopening has to wait due to Covid restrictions, the House of Denmark is now launching its new digital platform, ‘Le Bicolore’, with support from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Anders Ruhwald works at the intersection of sculpture, design and craft but always with ceramic as his chosen medium. The Art Institute of Chicago now adds five pieces to its collection that represent different facets of Ruhwald’s work. The New Carlsberg Foundation has supported the purchase.

In step with his time, Jens Juel created portraits that reflected the mindset of the Age of Enlightenment. His double portrait Et barn med en ung pige (Child With a Young Girl) from 1770 not only depicts the two figures but offers a glimpse of a new, more liberal approach to parenting. With support from the New Carlsberg Foundation, Ribe Art Museum now adds the painting to its collection.

Horsens Art Museum adds three sculptures by Christine Overvad Hansen to its collection. With their unique expression, they convey stories of the transformation from one material to another with references to Greek mythology and Jewish folklore.

Sti gennem skoven ved Liselund (Path Through the Wood at Liselund) is the title of this landscape painting by P. C. Skovgaard from 1857. It depicts a scene from Liselund Park on the island of Møn, one of Denmark’s best-preserved romantic gardens. Thanks to a grant from the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Skovgaard Museum in Viborg can now add the painting to its collection.

Tony Matelli’s works are not easily forgotten. They are often unsettling or comical, not least when he takes on the classical bust. With support from the New Carlsberg Foundation, Museum Salling has now acquired Bust (Peppers), made from pebbles and cement, adorned with hyperrealist bronze capsicums.

Joachim Koester challenges stereotypes in his video installation The Place of Dead Roads. The 2013 installation contains references to William S. Burroughs’s novel of the same name and to classic Hollywood westerns. With support from the New Carlsberg Foundation, ARoS now adds the video installation to its collection.