Love has always been seen as a driving force in image creation. Out of love for someone or something, we create images of it. Paintings have been kissed, miniatures worn around the neck, photos of the loved one put in the wallet and pictures of the children shared digitally with hearts and likes.
Images can prompt longing, reverence, admiration and desire. But what does it mean to love images – and to love through images? That is the central question of this exhibition. Since the dawn of time, we humans have created and been associated with images. According to a Greek myth, art was born when a young woman traced the profile of her beloved so that she could keep his likeness with her when he went away. In this sense, one might say that art itself was born out of love.
Images can be loved in many ways and for many reasons. The exhibition follows different paths through older art, modern art and contemporary art, cutting across time in order to explore some of the emotional bonds that people form with images.
One aspect of the love of images is religious in nature. In the exhibition, this is represented primarily through Orthodox icons, of which the museum holds a large and unique collection. The word icon comes from the Greek eikon, meaning image. Icons have served as portals for believers, letting them receive divine love and expressing their devotion to figures such as Christ or the Virgin Mary by kissing, touching and bowing before the images. Icons have also been admired for their aesthetic qualities and cherished as works of art by collectors and museums.
Another aspect is about how images let us hold on to those dearest to us, keeping them close even when they are absent. Small paintings and photographs of loved ones have been worn close to their owners’ heart, and portraits and silhouettes have acted as substitutes for the real thing.
In modern times, love of images has often turned towards the images themselves. They have been admired and celebrated as works of art in their own right, or as expressions of a particular culture. Many modern icons have drawn inspiration from depictions of the Madonna and have become beloved images in their own right – both in popular culture and in art history.
Finally, love has sometimes been stirred by the very act of creation. Myths, artists’ biographies and artworks tell of artists who fell so deeply in love with their own work that they treated it as if it were a living being. They loved the image into life.
In sum, the exhibition paints a picture of the powerful hold images can have on us, and of the deep attachments we form to them.
Beloved Images is the second exhibition in the trilogy Pictures of Power and Resistance. The first, The Barricaded Picture, was shown in 2023, and the third, The Dissolved Image, will be presented in 2027
Contributing Artists
Alexander Tovborg (DK f. 1983), Alicia Framis (ES 1967), Andy Warhol (USA 1928-1987), Auguste Rodin (FR 1840-1917), Constantin Hansen (DK 1804-1880), C.V. Eckersberg (DK 1783-1853), Edvard Munch (NO 1863-1944), Gerhard Henning (DK 1880-1967), Hendrick Goltzius (NL 1558-1617), Jens Juel (DK 1745-1802), Johan Georg von Ziesenis (DK/DE 1716-1766), Kirsten Christensen (DK f. 1943), Laure Prouvost (FR f. 1978), Lea Porsager (DK f. 1981), Luise Noora Sejersen (DK f. 1978), Ovartaci (DK 1894-1985), Rasmus Røhling (DK f. 1982), Ruth Campau (DK f. 1955), Ulrike Rosenbach (DE f. 1943) og værker af ukendte kunstnere samt ikoner fra byzantiske, græske, cypriotriske eller russiske skoler
The exhibition is supported by
Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, A.P Møller Fonden, Beckett-Fonden, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Konsul George Jorck og Hustru Emma Jorck’s Fond, Hermod Lannungs Museumsfond, Lektor Peer Rander Amundsens Legat og 15. Juni Fonden