Hej hej, Copenhagen!

For my last post, I wanted to show the bike culture for which Copenhagen is known. Bikes and bike rentals are everywhere. People of all sizes and shapes have bikes of all sizes and shapes. They travel by bike instead of driving. 

Copenhagen has dedicated bike lanes, and if you accidentally step into one of them, cyclists will quickly ring their bell to alert you to your mistake. 

Mange tak for traveling with me!

And finally, the Little Mermaid statue which was a gift from Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen to the city of Copenhagen. The sculpture is made of bronze and granite and sits in the water at Langelinie Pier. It was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's famous fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum - "Dancers Practicing in the Foyer" by Edgar Degas

This Copenhagen museum, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, represents the private art collection of Carl Jacobsen, (1842–1914), the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries. "Ny" means "new" in Danish, and "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root glyphein, to carve, and theke, storing place.

 

This exhibit shows the results of exhaustive research into "Dancers Practicing in the Foyer" by Edgar Degas, which places the painting much earlier than previously believed. Consequently, this painting had a much more extensive and important effect on his painting career.

 

 

 

SMK - Michaelangelo Impefect and the Royal Cast Collection

This was a major exhibit at the SMK or the Danish National Gallery. At first glance, I thought it was about Michelangelo's sculptures, and in a way, it was. But it was also very much about the plaster cast reproductions (and their value to art education and appreciation), which was a strong focus of art historian, Julius Lange and master brewer Carl Jacobsen, the founders of the collection. There were only a few original drawings and no original sculptures, only reproductions. 

Eventually, I recognized the importance of the casts as a way to enjoy Michelangelo's work without traveling to Italy, and to inspect various pieces and parts of sculptures close up, but initially, I was distracted by the fact that they were reproductions. Notice that many pieces are annotated with "KAS/Royal Cast Collection, SMK."

 

Information about the Royal Cast Collection: 

 

 

 

 

Other pieces I liked: