MÉCANIQUE MODERNE
Franciska Clausen, Fernand Léger & Gösta Adrian-Nilsson
27 Aug 2021 – 9 Jan 2022Gammel Holtegaard’s major autumn exhibition MÉCANIQUE MODERNE:
Franciska Clausen, Fernand Léger & Gösta Adrian-Nilsson presents three ground-breaking Modernists: the Swedish artist Gösta Adrian-Nilsson, also known as GAN (1884-1965), the Danish artist Franciska Clausen (1899-1986), and the French artist Fernand Léger (1881-1955). The exhibition focuses on works from the 1920s and the years when the destinies of all three merged. Juxtaposing the works of GAN and Franciska Clausen for the first time sheds light on the art of both Scandinavians, whereas the works Fernand Léger form a connecting link between them, contextualising the exhibition as a whole and presenting all three of them from a new art-historical perspective.
GAN and Franciska Clausen are both seen as pioneers of abstract art in Sweden and Denmark respectively, and both of them met Fernand Léger in Paris in the 1920s. Taking different approaches, the work of all three artists revolves around the creation of scenes using geometric forms, mechanical objects, and people in the midst of industrialised, constructivist disintegration. The exhibition is staged by Danish artist Maiken Bent (b. 1980), who will create a backdrop underlining the interaction between the works of the other artists.
The exhibition is generously supported by:
Aage and Johanne Louis Hansens Foundation, Knud Højgaards Foundation, Jørn Krygers and Anne Ammitzbøll’s Foundation, Hoffmann and Husman’s Foundation, Queen Margrethe’s and Prince Henrik’s Foundation, The New Carlsberg Foundation and Lizzie og Ejler Ruges Art Foundation
The Danish Art Foundation’s Committee for Visual Arts Project Funding supports Gammel Holtegaard’s exhibition programme
The Augustinus Foundation supports Gammel Holtegaard’s exhibition programme 2021
15. Juni Foundation supports Gammel Holtegaard’s exhibition programme 2021-2023