The theme of The Sea is as immense as the sea itself. It is not, however, a motif that has attracted very many visual artists. Landscapes have been the preferred motif by far. Denmark has been and is still considered a sea-faring nation. The entire country borders on sea or fjords. The Vikings ventured into the world on expeditions of conquest, and later we gradually acquired a navy as well as a merchant fleet. Today Denmark builds some of the largest container ships in the world, and in certain parts of the country, sections of the population still make a living by fishing.

In The Sea we will focus on a few subordinate themes offering different tales of our relationship to the powerful sea, historically as well as from a contemporary angle. The exhibition will start off with a selection of sea battles such as C. A. Lorentzen’s dramatic painting, “The Battle of Copenhagen”, and C. W. Eckerberg’s beautiful seascapes. These will be followed by photographs by the Frenchman Gustave Le Gray, who, as early as the 1850s, took pictures of the sea breaking, as did his American colleague Thomas Joshua Cooper a hundred years later. A special part of the exhibition will be dedicated to the highly dramatic aspects of the mighty forces of nature and man’s fascination with them.

Else Alfelt - Anna Kirstine Ancher - Michael Peter Ancher - Hans Op de Beeck - Carl Bille - Christian Vigilius Blache - Carl Baagøe - Helge Bertram - Oscar Gustaf Björck - Thomas Joshua Cooper - Gustave Doré - Holger Drachmann - Dankvart Dreyer - Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg - Torben Eskerod - Elliott Erwitt - Palle From - Fritz Henle - Jacob Hashimoto - Einar Hein - Valdemar Irminger - Viggo Johansen - Ruprecht von Kaufmann - Christian Krohg - Peder Severin Krøyer - Vilhelm Kyhn - Johannes Larsen - Carl Ludwig Locher - Gerhard Mantz - Michael Marten - Anton Melbye - Vilhelm Melbye - Anna Elisabeth Munch - Ulrik Møller - F. A. Mølsted - Carl Neumann - Thorvald Simon Niss - Pipilotti Rist - Paul Pfeiffer - Carl Rasmussen - Vilhelm Jacob Rosenstand - [Allan Sekula *1951 & Noël Burch *1932] Sekula & Burch - Fritz Syberg - Jens Andersen Søndergaard - Frits [Johan Frederik] Thaulow - Ernst Zeuthen - Bill Viola - Massimo Vitali - Sigurd Wandel - Johannes Martin Fasting Wilhjelm - Flaske Peter -
Curator Lene Burkard -