In the ongoing production of exhibitions, it is an art to seize upon a subject that has not been given much space in museums but which actually attracts public attention – and deserves much more attention. Vejen Art Museum has succeeded in doing this with its new focus on Art Deco in Denmark.
While it is rare to see more than a few objects in even large international museum collections, here we finally have a true 360-degree view of a style era that has never ceased to fascinate and inspire with its very special design language.
The last time art deco was on display in Denmark was 10 years ago with the exhibition Cool Moderne at Gl. Holtegaard, which at the time featured only examples from the visual arts. Vejen Art Museum has tracked down objects from private owners and/or in the attic of Magasin and has dug deep into the museum collections to show how there was once far more art deco in Denmark than one might immediately think.
Art for everyday use
The starting point is the centenary of the 1925 World Exhibition in Paris, which launched the concept of Arts Décoratifs – art for everyday use, a democratisation of high art for the general aesthetic enhancement of both private and public spaces.
The growing problematisation of decoration as “inauthentic” and “superficial” during the same period was partly to blame for the fact that ‘decorative’ art was quickly pushed out, and only ‘pure’ art and the new concept of craft from the 1950s were shown at exhibitions and fairs, or could be studied in education.
The decoration school at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts disappeared in the mid-20th century. But the vision for art deco was both appealing and relevant to our time: superb design in the best materials and with beauty as the goal.
The style captured the very essence of modern life. After the Art Nouveau artists in many countries had vegetated with nature, swum away in beautiful organic forms or grappled with the infinity of arabesques, a breathless, dynamic style arrived, where forms are always in motion or full of restrained energy, ready to erupt. Everything strives towards the sky, zigzags away or twists in spirals.
Powerful energy and shared rhythm in the works
In other words, this is a somewhat neglected but important piece of design history that is finally being given ample space here, and the museum has specially procured objects by the Danish artists who participated in the world exhibition.
In the exhibition’s display cases, statuettes by Johannes C. Bjerg, glass by Jakob E. Bang and ceramics by Jais Nielsen stand shoulder to shoulder, and with such a fantastic array, the common features suddenly become clear: The statuettes pose energetically, a goat-shaped glass lamp lies ready to spring into action next to huddled parrots – everything sways and twists and unfolds with tremendous energy and in a common rhythm.
The same applies to a recreated pavilion with paintings by Axel Salto and furniture by Poul Henningsen created for a private home – a real treat with the dancing motifs of the paintings, which show a completely different side of Salto than the abstract expressive ceramics recently seen at Clay’s exhibition Playing with Fire.
Everything in this specially constructed pavilion was privately owned for a long time, but is now on loan from Kunsten in Aalborg, and Vejen Art Museum deserves praise for its great work in rediscovering these hidden, forgotten treasures.
Aesthetic experiences, new social spaces and an attempt to spread beauty
From the Magasin du Nord Museum’s warehouse, they have acquired the chandelier with golden figures that once hung in the department store, and the golden girl with a spiral laurel wreath that adorned the kiosk at Bremerholm.
Everything has undergone extensive restoration, but now shows how Art Deco greatly influenced department stores, where basic commercial concerns were elevated to shared aesthetic experiences in the city’s new social spaces. Today, department stores have fallen into disrepair and become glorified shopping centres, and there is every reason to look back on the active cultural role they once played.
They set a new standard for attractive interiors and diligently organised exhibitions and ‘Italian’ or ‘French weeks’ to broaden their customers’ horizons and develop their tastes. This was also an attempt to spread ‘beauty’ to many more people.
Everything related to travel, entertainment, outdoor life, motoring and culture was at the forefront of Art Deco design between the 1910s and 1940s. But private homes were also furnished with the muscular and often voluminous new furniture and adorned with beautiful smoked opal glassware or intricate decorations with a wistful nod to the Orient or ancient Egypt.
It was not entirely democratic. The furniture and all the decorative elements were created for spacious homes and those who could afford high quality.
Pure form versus the longing for beauty
It can be difficult to draw a clear line between Art Deco and Functionalism, and several of the contributors to the Danish pavilions in Paris in 1925 have since become known as standard-bearers for Functionalism: Jakob E. Bang, Kay Fisker, Aage Rafn.
Art Deco was not afraid of grand gestures: volume, bold lines, loud colours and eye-catching features allowed buildings, objects and clothing to dominate the space and demand attention. Functionalism reduced everything to sensible, practical sizes and sought a more modest but still exquisite balance in things. Perhaps functionalism was more in tune with Scandinavian restraint and the desire for levelling after a brief flirtation with the glamorous Art Deco?
Nevertheless, Art Deco has never been completely forgotten, and you don’t have to be a big design nerd to easily recognise the style. It is also a style that is not afraid to be imposing and insistent and can therefore easily be interpreted as “masculine”.
All in all, it is a subject with great potential for the general public, and Vejen Art Museum is really attracting a large crowd to the beautifully staged exhibition. The ambitious museum has long made its mark in both art and ceramics and is keen to promote craft and material culture.
Don’t be put off by the museum’s website, which is in dire need of an overhaul – how about sprucing it up in elegant art deco style? – the exhibition “DANISH ART DECO – decorative modernism” is definitely worth a visit.
It is also an obvious place to reflect on the tension between the fetishisation of “pure form” in the inner circles of the design world and the longing for striking beauty in much broader circles. And on the tension between all these difficult concepts of art, craft, decorative art and design.
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