In The Light of Italy, colori e paesaggi di Civita d’Antino in una prestigiosa mostra a Copenaghen

“In The Light of Italy”, l’importante rassegna dei pittori danesi e norvegesi che nel periodo 1879-1886 hanno riportato sulla tela la luce e i colori d’Italia nei loro viaggi esplorativi nella Valle del Liri e nella Valle Roveto. In circa trecento pagine il catalogo della mostra documenta la produzione pittorica di Krøyer, Skovgaard, Philipsen, Pedersen, Zahrtmann, Petersen, Mayer Ross ed altri, che si ispirarono ai paesaggi e a scene di vita quotidiana di Civita d’Antino e della vicina Sora.

L’importante mostra nasce dalla collaborazione del museo Skovgaard di Viborg, del museo di Lillehammer in Norvegia e dell’ Hirschsprung Museum di Copenaghen e rappresenta  un evento di altissimo significato culturale per il nostro patrimonio storico e naturalistico. (Copenaghen, dal 23 settembre fino al 29 gennaio 2017)

(English Version) During the course of the autumn and winter, The Hirschsprung Collection presents a large-scale exhibition about a Danish-Norwegian artist community formed in Italy in the early 1880s. The exhibition invites visitors along for an exciting, varied journey that will take you to Rome, to the town of Sora set in beautiful landscapes by the river Liri at the foot of the bright Abruzzi Apennines, up into mountain ridges dotted with olive groves and shepherds and onwards along winding roads up to the marketplace of the exquisite little mountain village of Civita d’Antino.

In the years 1879-1886, Sora and Civita d’Antino became inspiring rallying points for a group of young Danish and Norwegian painters – P.S. Krøyer was the first to arrive, followed by the Norwegian painters Eilif Peterssen and Christian Meyer Ross, and two years later Joakim Skovgaard, Viggo Pedersen, Kristian Zahrtmann, Theodor Philipsen and the Belgian painter Rémy Cogghe also settled in this picturesque region. Over the course of very few years, this community saw a significant artistic evolution that would prove instrumental for the breakthrough of Naturalism in Scandinavia. Pursuing new directions, artists became interested in depicting the more realistic aspects of everyday life as well as the changing lights and moods of landscape. While influenced by the light of Italy and French Impressionism, the artists evolved their open-air painting – a new discovery at the time – and introduced a fresh wealth of colour in Nordic painting.

The exhibition sheds new light on this important period in Scandinavian art history, where some of the most important artists of the period inspired each other across national borders. The exhibition includes a range of works that have not previously been on public display. The exhibition is arranged in collaboration with The Skovgaard Museum in Viborg and Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway. In the Light of Italy is accompanied by an extensive and lavishly illustrated catalogue featuring articles by Jan Kokkin, Anne-Mette Villumsen and Marianne Saabye. Catalogue, 300 pages with more than 200 illustrations, DKK 250. The exhibition is also presented in a digital guide that visitors can use for free. Excerpts from Ole Braunstein and Ole Wivel’s atmospheric film from 1969 are screened at the exhibition.

The exhibition is supported by 15. Juni Fonden, A.P. Møller Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Beckett-Fonden, Dronning Margrethes og Prins Henriks Fond, Frimodt-Heineke Fonden, KrogagerFonden, Lizzie og Ejler Ruges Kunstfond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Overretssagfører L. Zeuthens Mindelegat, Toyota-Fonden og Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond. Hirschsprung Museum