New Carlsberg Glyptotek...support the arts, but do it with caution

This Friday I visited the New Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark known for the statue of the Little Mermaid. I came to Copenhagen very early in the morning.

I had dropped my son off at Copenhagen Airport for a transatlantic flight. Copenhagen was still asleep.

Baresso, my favorite coffee shop, opened at 7.30 a.m. So. I spent some time sightseeing before breakfast.

The Royal Castle, Amalienborg was wrapped.



The Parliament, Christiansborg was wrapped.



The City Hall was wrapped.

Christo???

The National Bank, The Tivoli Concert Hall and the New Carlsberg Glyptotek was kind of wrapped, too. Might it be an art work by Christo accomplished over night? What a surprise! What an excellent idea! Excellent.
Or?

Was it nothing but prosaic reconstruction, rebuilding, restoration, renovation.
I have decided not to ask.

I was stuck in an elevator in the parking house. I totally panicked. Baresso was not far away. A double espresso and a focaccia bread. And a double americano. Was what it took to recover.


Carlsberg

Carlsberg's slogan is "Probably the Best Bear in the World".

If it is the Best?

Try it out.



I found Carlsberg's web site, and the title was: Carlsberg.com - Probably the Best Website in the World.

Try it out.

The World?

You might have seen these Carlsberg advertisements....



I asked friends in New York, in Paris, and in Tokyo.

What is Carlsberg?

All of them answered : "A bear".

In 1847 Carlsberg's founder I.C. Jacobsen started the beer production in the first Carlsberg brewery plant, know as the Old Carlsberg.

In 1880 - as part of a fatiguing family drama - Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder, established his own brewery, New Carlsberg. This fatiguing family drama is documented in books and has been the theme of a very spell-binding TV serial.

In 1887 I.C. Jacobsen died and Old Carlsberg and New Carlsberg were united in the Carlsberg Foundation.

And the Carlsberg Foundation made
over the years
an awful lot of money.

New Carlsberg Glyptotek

However.

In one area I.C. Jacobsen and Carl Jacobsen were united.

They were both passionate art collectors.

The New Carlsberg Glyptotek was founded 1897 by Carl Jacobsen who created one of the largest private art collections of his time. It was named after his brewery, New Carlsberg, with the addition of "Glyptotek", meaning collection of sculpture. He was interested in contemporary French and Danish art, as well as ancient art from the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean. To secure the future of the collection, Carl Jacobsen and his wife Ottilia donated it to the public in two deeds of gift from 1888 and 1899. The Museum's buildings were created to house these works of art.




Collection of ancient art

Today, the museum houses the largest collection of ancient art in Northern Europe, primarily sculpture, from Egypt, the Near East, Greece and Italy.



Egypt Statue, 1403 B.C. - 1365 B.C. Diorite, H. 160 cm.

Greece Vase, Apulian Amphora, Trozzella 500 BC.- 475 B.C. Clay, H. 33.3 cm

Etruria Statue, from Chiusi, 500 - 330 B.C. H. 100 cm

Etruria Vase, Archaic 700 - 500 B.C. Clay, H: 47.5 cm

Rome Pompey the Great, 106 BC.- 48 BC. Marble, H. 25 cm

Rome Aphrodite, Roman Imperial Period, 30 B.C.- 500 A.D. Marble, H. 92 cm

Rome Alexander the Great, Roman copy (2. cent. AD) of Greek original (2. cent. BC). Marble, H. 36 cm


Collection of European, French and Danish art

But during the more than one hundred years of its existence, the museum has also expanded the collection of French and Danish art from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I was at New Carlsberg Glyptotek for the first time decades ago. I was there together with my art teacher Jes Dueholm Jessen - a great art teacher. It took my breath away. Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Heni de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir...



Click on the above pictures to see New Carlsberg Glyptotek's comprehensive collection notes.


...and Auguste Rodin, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Carot, Gustave Courbet... And then a Van Gogh, I never had seen a Van Gogh before.




Thoughts

At this visit at New Carlsberg Glyptotek the collection even had a Pablo Picasso. Some years ago I saw the collection of European Paintings at Art Institute of Chicago. Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Chagall... and a thought popped up in my mind: "These masters don't belong here".

Before that I saw the same artists at Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands - no thoughts of that kind popped up. Wandering around among the sculptures, vases, mosaics etc. from ancient Mediterranean cultures at the New Carlsberg Glyptotek this thought popped up again: "These sculptures, vases, mosaics etc. from the ancient Mediterranean cultures don't belong here".

Last summer I visited Rome and I wandered around among sculptures, vases, mosaics from ancient Mediterranean cultures at Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme - no thoughts of that kind popped up.

My common sense tells me to brutally neutralize these thoughts.

Of course citizens in US must have the possibility to see a van Gogh.

Of course citizens in Denmark must have the possibility to see sculptures, vases, mosaics etc. from ancient Mediterranean cultures.

But...

Photos:

Photos of Amalienborg, Christiansborg, Copenhagen City Hall and New Carlsberg Glyptotek outside are by Asbjorn Lonvig

Photo of New Carlsberg Glyptotek inside is from Photo Archives at http://www.glyptoteket.dk/

Photos of sculptures, vases, mosaics etc. from ancient Mediterranean cultures are from Collections at www.glyptoteket.dk Photos of Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Heni de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh art works are from Collections at http://www.glyptoteket.dk/

Photos of Carlsberg bear bottle and 3 photos of Carlsberg advertisements are from Media, Image Library at www.carlsberg.com.

Support the art with caution...

The article "Who is Aros - who is Bill..." now in Spanish - printout of the art magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires.

Editorial Croquis, Buenos Aires has printed the article "Who is Aros - who is Bill..." in Spanish about the art museum Aros in Denmark and about Bill Violas exhibition at Aros.
See the article.


By Asbjorn Lonvig

Asbjorn Lonvig, artist from Denmark has debuted as correspondent for the art magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires.

Asbjorn Lonvig, artist from Denmark has debuted as correspondent for the art magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The article "Who is Aros - who is bill" is on the front page of Croquis.
In Spanish.
See the front cover to the left.

Below you see Croquis covers for the recent 18 issues.

See the Croquis web page.

Hi sculptor...I mean you!!!

I visited Legoland in Billund, Denmark this weekend. As I do every year. A family tradition. Any in our family, who wants to go join us. This year one worked at Greenland Home Rule. One was busy writing a term paper at the University. One was at work making sure Telia survives in the cell phone market. The rest of the family joined our Legoland tour. Grandma paid. I go to Legoland for numerous of reasons. My children and their children love it. My children's spouses have to love it. I love it. My spouse has to love it.

I had just talked to someone in Minneapolis about a sculpture. The "M" in Minneapolis.

And I had talked to someone in Denmark about a sculpture in Kolding. The sailing sculpture "4K" in Kolding Castle Lake.

And it struck me that what I saw in Legoland were nothing but sculptures. And after that I really did photo. Photo-Fat-Dad, my family calls me. A name I got in China by my sons - because of my photo enthusiasm. Never mind. I got my 150 digital photos to choose from. I just had to join the laughter that arose as we saw "Photo-Fat-Dad" as we entered Legoland. My family had no doubt in their minds, that I had posed for the LEGO designers and builders. Photo-Fat-Dad really went crazy. You might believe he was a Japanese. Japanese are known as enthusiastic photographs, too. And little story from my travel in Australia springs up: On a guided tour inside The Arts Centre in Melbourne, which is kind of Melbourne's Sydney Opera House, a Japanese tourist was accidentally trapped in one of the many huge rooms. He was stuck for several hours. As he was found, we asked him very caring: Weren't you afraid? Weren't you thirsty? Weren't you hungry? But you needed to go to the bathroom? No, my only problem was, I was run out of film...


Here are some of Photo-Fat-Dad's photos from Legoland:





...and all of this is built out of small bricks size 31 x 15,5 x 9,5 mm, that is 1.22 x 0.61 x 0.37 inches. Millions and millions of bricks. For the Bergen, Norway landscape there has been used 2.347.000 bricks.

Children's needs - and good old Marslow

I hear a lot about children's needs. And the problems that arise if children's needs are ignored. Some have problems concerning self esteem. Some have problems concerning creativity. Some have problems concerning learning. Some have problems concerning social behavior. Some have problems concerning stimulation from grown ups. It's lack of psychological balance we talk about. Good old Maslow - Abraham Maslow - is known for establishing the theory of a hierarchy of needs. He says that the basic needs are physiological needs such as air, water, food, sleep etc. My theory is that Marslow forgot one basic need. LEGO. When children build with LEGO under the guidance of grown ups many of the above problems are avoided. Building with LEGO is building self esteem and self confidence. Their creativity is trained. They exercise playful learning. Building together with other children and grown ups improves their social skills. Building with LEGO bricks brings peace in the children's minds - at least for a while.

How does LEGO built all those sculptures

One brick alone is...a brick. Two bricks combined in some way - you have created a sculpture. I'll show you how LEGO creates sculptures. They have an idea. They research. They design. They built. They exhibit. Like the creation of every other sculpture. I was invited to see the LEGO Studios. To the right you see Fredensborg Castle in the LEGO Studios. Ready to be placed in the Legoland park. Ready to be revealed by the Crown Princess Mary and the Crown Prince Frederik. Fredensborg Castle is the Crown Prince Couple's residence. The most amazing about the building of LEGO sculptures was a computer system, that transforms drawings into layers of LEGO bricks. This system makes everything much easier to the builders.

The most disappointing thing was that inside the huge LEGO sculptures there were metal skeletons. Of course from an engineering point of view the skeletons have to be there. But. I have deleted this knowledge from my memory. It distracts my perception and fascination of the giraffe. Never ever tell this to the children. It's like telling them, that Santa Claus is just grandpa.

Hi sculptor...I mean you!!!

You might be a parent, you might be a grandparent, or you might be a child. Let us build sculptures. Build a model of a sculpture. Build whatever you would like with LEGO bricks in the colors you prefer. Photo the model. Send the photo attached to an e-mail to sculpture@mail.dk and I'll exhibit it on the world's largest online gallery, which is AbsoluteArts/WWAR - World Wide Arts Resources in Columbus, Ohio in USA.

Our new art galley is called "Children's LEGO sculptures". See our art gallery logo to the right. See the art gallery at http://galleries.absolutearts.com/galleries/lego-sculpture/.

Tell me in the e-mail: What's the title of your sculpture? What's the height of your model in cm or inches? What's your name, address, country, age, gender? Where do you think it would be nice to place you sculpture? More...? At the same moment you send this e-mail you have become a sculptor. Hi sculptor...I mean you!!!

And
if you enjoy working at your computer and if your computer is a sophisticated game computer, you might use LEGO Digital Designer, which allows you to create 3D LEGO models. You can make a virtual version of a real model, and then you can take a digital snapshot of your creation in .jepg and send it to the above e-mail address. Or you can exhibit it yourself. You can download LEGO Digital Designer here.

I don't like PRIZES - but here they are



Everybody who sends an e-mail to sculpture@mail.dk ought to have a prize. But. As it is custom to give prizes to a winner, here they are. The owner of LEGO was Gottfred Kirk Christiansen. His wife, Edith Kirk Christiansen once visited Lille Fejringhus Galley. She saw the two silk-screen prints, 80 x 80 cm, numbered and signed, edition 125 shown above. And she burst out spontaneously: My goodness, that's LEGO colors. Sure, she was right. I had never before thought about, that I consequently use bright colors like LEGO. I made my first LEGO sculpture at an age of 3. Subconscious I might have picked the LEGO colors, when I want to communicate happy feelings. Another proof of LEGO's psychological power of penetration? I'll send these two silk-screen prints, 80 x 80 cm, numbered and signed, edition 125 to the winner. But. Maybe they a mostly for grown ups?



Therefore I'll send 4 signed CIRCUS motifs 42 x 30 cm, edition 300, too. Still in LEGO colors!! The Clown, the Banana, the Parrot and the Clown's Shoe.

I'll ask the present owner of LEGO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the son of Edith and Gottfred Kirk Christiansen if he would pick the winner, and I'll ask him if he might have some extra goodies for the winning sculptor. And now the very careful reader thinks I have made a misspelling. Kjeld's "K" in Kristiansen. It's not me, who have made a misspelling, but the misspelling is made by the clergyman, who wrote his birth certificate!!



My theory

Of course children must play computer games, which are not more dangerous than chess. Of course children must have a cell phone, they have to communicate according to the trends of today. Of course children must have all the fancy toys. My theory is, however, that any caring parent and any caring grandparent must give their children and grandchildren a christening gift consisting of a considerable number of LEGO bricks in different colors. Not denying them a healthy psychological growth. Not denying them the joy of becoming a sculptor.

My favorite LEGO photo from the archive



This photo is from Singapore Airport. We landed in Singapore. We waited there for several hours for a delayed flight to Bangkok. Soon my son Jakob made friends with a Japanese boy and a girl.

Their common language was LEGO.

Photos:

Globetrotter - Danish village, Denmark - The Nederlands - Mann's Chinese Theater, Los Angeles - Bergen, Norway Beverly Hills, Los Angeles - Elephant - Ferrari - Düsseldorf, Germany - The Rhine, Germany - Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota, USA - Mule, Western USA - The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, New York - Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark - Abu Simbel, Egypt - Japanese Portal - Scottish Castle - Arabic Castle - Singapore Airport

by Asbjorn Lonvig

Fredensborg Castle, Denmark - Giraffe - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen

by LEGO

Exposure - a never ending visit to the dentist...

You are an artist.
You want your works to be seen by everybody.
Every artist has his or her own unique style and we want to let people know about this.
At the same time you want to stay anonymous.
You want to have peace in your mind.
You love to do your work in quietness.
This is the artist's dilemma.
You need exposure but you hate it.
You need to earn a living but you disgust the exposure of yourself.
But.
If you want to be in contact with "the real world" you must give up some of your
needs for living and working anonymously, in peace and in quietness.


If you do this in the wrong way.

If you do this in the wrong way, however, if you expose yourself and not your work
you end up as a "4th of July speaker" (in Danish it is called a "grundlovstaler"),
one that lectures for free,
one that newspapers ask for an opinion on anything,
one that is asked for free pictures to associations,
one that supports any charity organization,
one that is constantly asked for sponsorships.
You end up as a celebrity, a fool, a clown (see my self portrait "crying clown" to the right).
You end up as a slave.
Your image becomes a yoke of bondage.



Artist's dilemma.

I feel this artist's dilemma right now.
I feel this never ending visit to the dentist *.
I have to be in contact with "the real world" in order to expose my works.
Not myself.
And I want to get in touch with the society around me.
I have to give up some of my needs for living and working anonymously, in peace and in quietness.

So, no fancy excuses.
I have to advertise.
And be aware of what I do - and why I do it...



Ad in Danish

I want to address all Danes.
There are 5.5 million inhabitants in Denmark.
The Internet can help me along.
But the Internet does not address all Danes.
The strongest media in this sense is the newspaper.
I have to advertise in newspapers.
Next Saturday I publish the ad, that you see to the left in newspapers covering the whole country.

I create the ad as if it was an ordinary newspaper ad.
My goal however is to tell people what is on my web sites
www.lonvig.dk - art, design etc. and www.lonvig.org - writings, lectures etc.

The reader of the ad has to feel that he has the option to look at the internet.
Not an obligation.
A lot of newspaper readers would decline to look at the internet, if it is not optional.

The ad is in one color and one column to keep it simple.

























Ad in English

If this way of web site exposure succeeds in Denmark, I'll simply
use the method in areas where I have an exhibition.
The New York Times might be a good start?
1.700.000 on Sundays.
The price?
Several thousand dollars - careful consideration is needed.
In 2 weeks my works are featured at Manhattan Arts International, New York.

In near future I am opening exhibitions in Buenos Aires and Quebec.
If I pass the review tomorrow I'll open an exhibition in Rome, Italy, too.
There are a lot of possibilities!

And.
If I don't succeed?
If the web sites are not exposed this way?

I'll take a deep breath.
A pipe of tobacco.
A cup of coffee.

And then I have to try again.


*) Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian on the Quebec problem.

Deadlines.

Jodi Melfi, the editor of World Wide Art Resources' Art News has given me the following deadlines: 30 May 2005 and 24 June 2005.
The article on 30 May will be on Interactive Lecture to small audiences.
The article on 24 June will probably be on Carlsberg and the New Carlsberg Glyptotek (a high quality art museum).

Sincerely,
Asbjorn Lonvig

These articles will also be published on
Artday Network World ArtNews in Tokyo, Japan
Squarespace, Inc., College Park, Maryland University, Washington D.C.
FullDigitalArt.com in Paris and on
blogger.com, blog.com, msn.com and bloglines.com .
The articles are sent to RedTram through Colorful New,
which is an acknowledged news channel to RedTram
News Search Engine.