Udsigt over haver og huse 1930

Curator: Here we have “Udsigt over haver og huse” a landscape scene executed in ink by Henry Nielsen in 1930. It is currently part of the collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: My first impression is one of organized chaos. It feels spontaneous and free, but there’s also this underlying structure of houses and gardens barely contained by the energetic linework. Almost dreamlike in its semi-abstraction, don’t you think? Curator: Absolutely, the composition leads one to wonder how art, in Nielsen’s time, served the function of preserving a record of the societal structures and their development. The use of ink makes it easily reproducible. What makes the landscape in the Danish context unique and specific? Editor: Oh, I think he captured a certain melancholy in the everyday, and even though the houses are simplified forms, the dark foliage practically crawls with a nervous energy, it gives the impression that something may occur in a few moments. Are we meant to experience the beauty of ordinary life? It could just be an anxious moment experienced by an average member of Danish society. What's your reading? Curator: It suggests a moment frozen in time. We, as a modern audience, have no real lived connection to this scene. When considered along other art from Nielsen, he presents a narrative for modern museum goers about life, art, and development from a critical moment in Danish history. Editor: You're right. It’s not just a simple pretty picture. It's about seeing the extraordinary within the mundane, like finding a story whispered in the shadows of familiar buildings. I’m definitely left with the feeling I would walk into the print and begin writing Nielsen’s biography in my mind! Curator: His focus on everyday Danish life is a theme woven throughout much of Nielsen's production. Editor: An anxious record of Danish daily life made physical and enduring with ink and lithography, ready to be printed and shared for many years.