Generous Gifts: Kunsten Acquires 15 New Works

There are around 4,000 works in Kunsten Museum of Modern Art’s collection: a collection that recently became available online, so you can peruse it in the privacy of your own home.

Now there is even more to explore in the Kunsten Collection digital collection database.

In 2022, the collection acquired 15 significant works by artists including Nan Goldin, Kirsten Justesen, Nina Beier, Cathrine Raben Davidsen and Erik A. Frandsen. Kunsten purchased eight of the works with the generous support of the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Two of the fifteen new works are a donation by the art collectors Jens and Margit Haven Christiansen. This is not the first time that Kunsten has benefited from the couple’s generosity and their excellent relationship with the museum. In 2019, the museum received a donation of an impressive 56 works from the couple’s private art collection.

“We are hugely grateful for all the works we’ve received from various foundations, artists and individuals this year. Our collection is more impressive than ever - both in terms of contemporary/modern ground-breaking works and older, iconic pieces,” says Lasse Andersson.

A boost for the collection

“The fifteen new works were by no means randomly selected,” explains Caroline Nymark Zachariassen, Curator/Head of Collection at Kunsten.

“We constantly aim to collect art that represents and reflects significant contributions to the time in which we live. For this reason, we are delighted to have acquired a work by the internationally renowned photographer and activist Nan Goldin with the support of the New Carlsberg Foundation. We also take a regular look at our collection to review the stories it tells and discover what is lacking, in order to create a more multifaceted historical picture. This year, for example, on the occasion of her 80th birthday, we are presenting an exhibition of work by Kirsten Justesen. We already have many works by Justesen in the collection, but lacked some from the 70s. We wanted to paint a more complete picture of the artist’s practice over the years. So, we are very excited to have acquired three of her works from that period,” says the Head of Collection.

See the complete list of new works in Kunsten’s collection below.

The works are either on display now or will be at a later point. You can always peruse them online at Kunsten Collection.

15 new works in the collection

Erik A. Frandsen, Finnochio (2021). Oil on canvas (300 x 225 cm). Donated by Jens and Margit Haven Christiansen.

A large painting by Erik A. Frandsen, who is already well represented in the museum’s collection: partly in the shape of works from the 1980s and partly by the monumental mosaics of the museum’s lobby. The work, recently featured in The Method of Giotto, a special exhibition at Trapholt, is one of the works Frandsen created during the corona pandemic. The painting can thus be viewed as a sensuous reflection on the common experience of lockdown, fear, hope and optimism that has impacted the past few years.
 
Cathrine Raben Davidsen, Algae Figure (2020). Ink & charcoal on paper (52.2 x 75.9 cm). Donated by Jens and Margit Haven Christiansen.

An addition to the museum’s already impressive collection of works by Cathrine Raben Davidsen that were donated to the museum by Jens and Margit Haven Christiansen in 2019 from their collection. Algae Figure is one of the series the artist created during her stay in Skagen, when she appeared in the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s TV programme Kunstnerkolonien i Skagen (The Artist Colony in Skagen), in which she used algae as material in her works. When it comes to graphic techniques, Raben Davidsen is one of the foremost representatives of Danish contemporary art. Her work includes depictions of our relationship to nature and our understanding of the spiritual world.
 
Kirsten Justesen, Pussy Power (ed. of 25) (1969-71/2000) Archival print on Somerset cotton paper (41 x 52 cm).

Kirsten Justesen, BODY CIRCUMSTANCES (1) / Actions for a camera (1973). Pigment print on Somerset Satin (100 x 132 cm).

Kirsten Justesen, BODY CIRCUMSTANCES 2) / Actions for a camera (1973). Pigment print on Somerset Satin (100 x 132 cm).
The three works by the Danish contemporary artist and feminist pioneer Kirsten Justesen are a welcome addition to the museum’s representation of the artist, which in recent years has been actively expanded with both early and later works. The works represent a ground-breaking time in the artist’s career and Danish art history in general, when the feminist agenda made its dramatic entry on the artistic stage, challenging established approaches to work – for example, with the artist using her own body as material. The museum’s significant collection of works by Justesen lacked works from the 1970s. The newly acquired works means that we now have a complete overview of her oeuvre.
 
Nan Goldin, Marble Quartet (2013). Archival pigment print, 121.9 x 114.8 cm. Edition of 3 (# 3/3). Acquired with a grant from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Nan Goldin is not only one of the world’s leading contemporary artists in the field of photography; she is also a feminist pioneer. Her work was featured in the 2022 Venice Biennale and there is currently an exhibition of her work at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The acquisition is the first international photographic work in Kunsten’s collection. Included in the museum’s MARBLE exhibition, the work comprises four photos: an image of a classical marble sculpture taken at the Musée d ‘Orsay in Paris, and snapshots of a woman from the artist’s personal photo archive. Goldin thereby challenges the predominant male gaze and the objectification that has dominated Western art history for centuries by offering a mutual and intimate encounter with it and the gaze she portrays.

A Kassen, Color of Things (Marble) (2022). Marble (powdered), photograph. 150 x 300 cm / Variable dimensions. Acquired with a grant from the New Carlsberg Foundation.

In this conceptual work, A Kassen take a radical approach to marble as a material, which has been used by craftsmen for thousands of years. In this work, a green marble tabletop was photographed 1:1 and then crushed until unrecognisable. In the museum’s MARBLE exhibition, the photographed marble slab and an area created from the crushed marble from the same marble slab were presented side by side and mounted directly on the museum’s brick wall.

Nina Beier, Portrait Mode (2011). Mixed media (Recycled clothes, Perspex, oak frame). Dimensions: 306 x 612 x 6.5 cm. Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.
Nina Beier, Peanuts & Drums (2015). Collage (Human hair wig, Hermès silk tie, synthetic insulation, nylon). Dimensions: 80.5 x 63 cm. Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Nina Beier, Peanuts (2015). Collage (human hair wig, feathers, 1 Hermès tie, synthetic insulation, nylon). Dimensions: 80.5 x 63 cm. Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Nina Beier (b. 1975) is one of the most significant Danish contemporary artists of her time. Her works often feature surprising juxtapositions of different objects that give rise to new, thought-provoking themes. Peanuts & Drums and Peanuts feature silk ties from the design icon Hermès, bird feathers and human wigs, all put together on a layer of synthetic insulation. The six-metre-long work Portrait Mode features a landscape of contrasts in colour and texture, in which different textiles appear to be both neatly arranged and randomly tossed at one and the same time. Nina Beier’s special sense for playful, sharp and critical juxtapositions of objects is evident in all three works. They are a perfect addition to the museum’s large collection of Surrealism, Neorealism and Fluxus.

Maiken Bent, Tools #12 (2020). Sculpture (Fender, charred wooden ring, thread, carabiner, chain, ring, hook). Dimensions: 94 x 90 x 16 cm. Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Maiken Bent, Tools #9 (2018). Sculpture (Fender, leather, thread, chain, ring and hook). Dimensions: 155 x 25 x 25 cm. Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.

Tools #12 and Tools #9 are powerful examples of the Danish contemporary artist Maiken Bent’s (b. 1980) practice, which generally tackles our relationship with objects. Bent works with such materials as rope, leather and chains, which in complex, poetic sculptural encounters make us think of all sorts of things - ranging from tools and training aids to sexual fetishes.

Svend Johansen, Untitled (1923) Painting (Watercolour/gouache on paper). Dimensions: 40 x 66 cm. (Dimensions of frame: 64 x 91 cm). Donated by the New Carlsberg Foundation.
Svend Johansen (1890-1970) was an important voice in Danish Modernism, partly as a member of De Fire, a group of artists that also included Alex Salto, Vilhelm Lundstrøm and Karl Larsen. The latter artists are already well represented in the museum’s collection, but the museum has long harboured a desire to enhance its representation of Svend Johansen. Johansen’s quivering, dreamy landscape, which is now part of Kunsten’s collection, is a supreme example of the artist’s works and of early Danish Modernism – particularly as an example of the Roaring Twenties, which played a definitive role for the years ahead.
 
Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen, End of Dreams (2014-16). 14 sculptures and an audio-visual part (ed. 1/3). Donation by the artist.
Skyum Larsen’s installation is a reflection on refugee flows and migration. The work tackles the difficult, dangerous journey on which many refugees embark in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean and find peace - a voyage during which countless people die. The work, created for an exhibition at Fotografisk Center in Copenhagen in 2016, is an addition to the other works by the artist in the museum’s collection.
 
Randi and Kathrine, Parklife (2007). Dyed foam rubber, painted wood, glass, photography and light. Donation by Britta Madsen and Søren Gøttrup.

A monumental hedge in a display case. The long, square hedge was inspired by the hedges if Baroque landscaped gardens. We have to bend slightly to peek into the inner space of the hedge, where we then glimpse some scantily clad women hiding. The pleasurable view of the garden depends on our own perusal of the work. Though the work was inspired by the Baroque shapes and sexualisation of the garden space, it is presented in a contemporary context. Parklife is part of a series of works. Based on different garden spaces, they investigate the artificiality of nature when controlled and guided by people’s gazes and desires.

Foto: Nan Goldin, Marble Quartet, 2013