Part 10

Back on the road with the car today, beginning south of our apartment on Amager Island, just west of the airport, at the edge of the Naturecenter is a place called Himmelhoej.  And, would you believe it, there was more Kunst on the way.

(zoom in on the center column)

Naturlagepladsen Himmelhoej. In 2004 Sicilian-born artist Alfio Bonanno was commissioned to create three pieces of Art using natural, unfinished materials such as branches or thin trunks of tree, or boulders.  One was a ship made of raw planks and branches giving it an ethereal appearance.

Amager Ark by Alfio Bonanno, 22004

Kids could not resist running down the long path to race into the ship and climb on the stairs in the prow or the boulders piled in the center.

Also:

Insect Forest by Alfio Bonanno, 2004

The Fireplace by Alfio Bonanno, 2004

Across the man-made waterway were ultra-modern housing units built at the end of the metro line, in a wilderness bounded by the nature center. Great building designs but it was windy and cold and a surprisingly long drive from our apartment. Just goes to show the size of this island.

Then we headed west for Arken. Not a town, but the contemporary Art museum near the water’s edge.

Stadion by Oivind Nygaard, 1995

The featured exhibition was 100 years of Carl-Henning Pedersen. A major presentation.

Into the Wide World by Carl-Henning Pedersen, 1988

Holy Woman with Dragon Body by Carl-Henning Pedersen, 1966

Boatswain by Carl-Henning Pedersen, 2005

The Ten-Eyed Person by Carl-Henning Pedersen, 1959

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF PEDERSEN.

Of course, we had to sample their cafe.  We had big platters with smoked mackerel on pointed cabbage, herring with capers, old olives, chicken breast with a lemon sauce, cashews, on romaine, topped with big slices of tomato.

There was a display of Art by Asger Jørn that was taken from the walls of a friend's house in Laesko.  He was staying there and just started drawing on the walls before he left.  Later Jørn got a studio of his own on the island.

(not mine)

And a few more pieces:

Knight Torso by Jean Arp, 1959

by Gert Nielsen

Just to show you that the plans of an Xtreme Art Tourist do not always come to fruition, we looked for two places after this, with no success.  

So we went to Jens Ferdinand (J.F.) Willumsen’s Museum in FREDERIKSSUND, which was pretty nice.  You may recall his name as the designer of the Den Frie Exhibition in Copenhagen.  Once again, we heard the story about how he promised his collection to the state if he got a grand museum in Copenhagen. But after years of government delay he agreed to have it built in this town, forty-five minutes northwest of the Capital.

 Ravne til Friluftsteatret by J.F. Willumsen, 1910

 Lille pige med sine dukker by J.F. Willumsen, 1911

He also liked to paint and sculpt his wives:

 Bust of Michelle Bourret, 1940

Michelle Bourret as Tanagra by J.F. Willumsen, 194

and himself:

He spent half his life in France.  In 1890 he met Paul Gauguin in Brittany (probably Pont Aven).  They traded and this is what Willumsen got:

 La Luxure by Paul Gauguin, 1890

Other pieces from his collection include these from Anchers:

Cammel kone i en dor by Michael Ancher, ca 1893

Kone, der sidder og strikker uden for sin dor by Anna Ancher, 1898

He was also very interested in photography and devoted much time to it.  Here is a photo he took in his studio of the famous musical composer Carl-Nielsen and his wife, Anne Marie (the sculptor we met earlier) and family.

And a little Kunst for on the way home: