Danish Contemporary Art at Auction

Experiments, disintegration and eeriness – at this autumn's international auction at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers in Copenhagen, we focus on Danish contemporary art with names such as Benny Dröscher, Anette Harboe Flensburg, Jesper Christiansen and Julie Nord. This is the largest selection of Danish contemporary art ever seen at our auction house including new names on the auction market.

"Contemporary art is one of the themes at this autumn’s international auction in Bredgade, Copenhagen. The artists represent a broad field that experiments with different media, genres and expressions. In addition to being tied together in time, the only common denominator is a belief that everything is possible," says Niels Raben, head of the modern art department at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers.

Natural Elements and Tornadoes

The many well-known names include John Kørner, Tal R, Claus Carstensen, Kirstine Roepstorff, while one of the new artists in an auction context is Benny Dröscher. In his art, he works with unusual perspectives and lets nature disintegrate. In "Blissfully Still (6)" from 2008, he uses various carefully designed natural elements such as trees, flowers and birds that with a tornado-like power are flung across the white sky.

Threatening Light

In the work of painter Anette Harboe Flensburg, reality has also disintegrated, but for her the desolate room is the focal point. The work "Room with a Bay Window 1" from 2004 can be described as Hammershøi in a modern version. Here a chair is placed in front of a large window that lets the sunlight penetrate and throw long shadows into the orange-coloured room. But Harboe Flensburg never follows a rational logic, and the light threatens to dissolve the room and transform the floor into water.

Abstract Cityscape

One of the more well-known contemporary artists at our auctions is Jesper Christiansen, who also has the room as a permanent element in his art. The work "Hold maleri" (Hold Painting) comes from the series of word paintings that he worked on up through the 1990s. Using geometric and perspective colour surfaces, he creates abstract cityscapes and equips them with words that thematise different subjects such as emotions, literature and art. In the work up for auction, the words include genre, model, minus and salt, and here it is more uncertain what subject matter we are dealing with.

An Enchanted Eeriness Falls Across the Auction

Julie Nord’s artwork is both enchanting and eerie. What at first glance appears almost innocent, transforms into a horrific universe. The works refer to both fairy tales, gothic horror and vanitas symbols from art history. In the painting "And the World Became Strange” from 2002, we meet two versions of Nord's ubiquitous heroine – the innocent little girl with big round eyes. With the work "The True Story of How It All Began" from the same year, we are greeted by cute unhappy animals, all of which have their eyes pointed toward a dark and foreboding castle at the centre of the painting.

The Artist’s Art Collection

Nils Erik Gjerdevik also belongs to the group of contemporary artists. He is known for his personal abstract idiom and his public ornamentations can be seen at, among other places, the Danish Parliament, the Opera House in Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen. But Gjerdevik was also an art collector, and when he passed away last year, he left a large collection that testifies to his insightful, versatile and passionate approach to art. The collection includes works by both Danish, Czech and American artists, and here we would like to highlight one of Poul Gernes’ square images, Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen's surrealist compositions and a characteristic papercut by Peter Callesen. On the opening day of the preview on Thursday, 14 September at 2:30 pm in Bredgade 33, the artist and collector Claus Carstensen will give the presentation "Nils Erik Gjerdevik and His Role as a Collector". The artwork from Nils Erik Gjerdevik’s collection is spread out between the traditional auction 873 in Bredgade and the subsequent online auction 1738.

Auction: 26-27 September in Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen

Preview: 14-18 September at the same address

Please note, that our modern art specialist, Niels Boe Hauggaard, gives the gallery talk "Looking at Upcoming Artists" on Friday 15 September at 3 pm in our preview (the saleroom, by the staircase).

View all the lots of contemporary art