Parti ved Hammershus 1869 - 1873

Curator: Let's turn our attention to Axel Theodor Kittendorff's "Parti ved Hammershus," a landscape from between 1869 and 1873 currently residing at the SMK. The medium is listed as a print, specifically an etching. Editor: It's a somber scene. The stark black and white, combined with the crumbling castle ruins, evokes a sense of loss and the passage of time. The stark tree is eerie with almost no leaves on it. Curator: The choice of etching lends itself well to that feeling, don't you think? The labor involved in creating the plate, the acid biting away at the metal—it's a destructive process to create something representational. The starkness of the image underscores the laborious, almost industrial process of its creation. Editor: Absolutely. And the ruin itself—Hammershus Castle—functions as a potent symbol of bygone eras, lost power. We can read the architectural language, the formidable walls, as representative of a kingdom, but now nature reclaims it. Note how the organic shapes of the vegetation contrast the clean architectural lines of the stronghold. The ruin invites a reflection on how symbols endure. Curator: It speaks to the cycle of consumption and decay inherent in materiality itself. The castle was built, inhabited, then abandoned to become a resource for new purposes and imaginations. The etching captures the specific geography and social history and reduces them to base metals. It reminds me that the material is only one aspect. Editor: Indeed. And that lone tree dominating the right side. A potent visual cue, perhaps signifying resilience or perhaps simply a marker for reflection on the passage of time. It speaks to something timeless. Curator: I find it particularly fascinating that a print, a multiple, can carry this sense of historical specificity. Its replicability feels like an industrial fingerprint over a very distinct place. Editor: A final echo, perhaps, from the hand of the artist. A blend of place and memory distilled and ready for cultural meaning. I think viewers will be eager to think on the stories etched in stone, land, and image. Curator: Indeed. And the materiality that supports those memories and fantasies, let us not forget.