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4.1 Gerson, Martin, Kramm and Hofstede de Groot

The very first page of the chapter on Denmark in his Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländische Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts makes it clear that Gerson himself spent time in Denmark gathering the material for this part of his book: ‘When one enters Rosenborg Castle […] in Copenhagen today, one is struck by a large number of Flemish landscapes that were included as decoration for the walls of the Winter Room (Vinterstue)’.1 He also mentions elsewhere in the book artworks that he studied closely in their original location.2 Gerson had previously been in contact with such prominent Danish historians and art historians as Otto Andrup (1883-1953) and Karl Madsen (1855-1938). He makes just one mistake in chapter on Denmark, when he locates the church of Nyborg in Copenhagen.3

A contemporary of Gerson, Wilhelm Martin [i], had dismissed the Dutch influence in Denmark in just a few lines in his book on Dutch painting in the 17th century) from 1935, that deals with ‘Our painters abroad’ in chapter 11.4 If we look for another art historian working on Netherlandish art who made the effort to travel to Denmark, we come across Christian Kramm [i]. From his De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders (The lives and works of Dutch and Flemish painters) dating from 1857-1864, it appears that he was in Denmark to view the collection at Christiansborg and the ‘Gallery’ of Count Moltke, among others.5 He also visited Frederiksborg, that he had the good fortune to see in all its glory, before the major fire at the castle in 1859.6 Cornelis Hofstede de Groot [i] journeyed through Scandinavia in 1900. In Denmark, one of the places he visited was Gavnø Castle. Gerson does not mention Kramm in his notes, but he certainly did consult the material that Hofstede de Groot amassed during his trip.

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Hugo Wijnmalen, Portrait of Wilhelm Martin (1876-1954), dated 1930

Hugo Wijnmalen
Portrait of Wilhelm Martin (1876-1954) dated 1930
etching / paper, 15 x 11 cm
RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis (Collectie Iconografisch Bureau), The Hague


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Johann Wilhelm  Kaiser (I), Portrait of Christiaan Kramm (1797-1875)

Johann Wilhelm  Kaiser (I)
Portrait of Christiaan Kramm (1797-1875) (1864)
steel engraving / paper, 169 x 131 mm
RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis (Collectie Iconografisch Bureau), The Hague


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Theodore C. Marceau, Portrait of Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930), probably 1914 or earlier

Theodore C. Marceau
Portrait of Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930) probably 1914 or earlier
paper, 269 x 22 mm
RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis (Collectie Iconografisch Bureau), The Hague


The Dutch architects and artists who lived or worked in Denmark for a longer period in the 16th and 17th centuries faded into obscurity both in that country and abroad. From the mid-19th century, however, they were gradually rediscovered and incorporated into the country’s art history.7 In architecture, the ‘Dutch-North German’ style underwent a revival, and artists such as Kristian Zahrtmann (1843-1917) used the portraits of Karel van Mander III (1609-1670) as the basis for their images of episodes from the life of Christian IV and his family members.8

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Kristian Zahrtmann, Leonora Christina (1621-1698) in the garden of Frederiksborg Palace, dated 1887

Kristian Zahrtmann
Leonora Christina (1621-1698) in the garden of Frederiksborg Palace dated 1887
oil paint / canvas, 56,3 x 76 cm
Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen



[1]

Gerson 1983/1942 , p. 453 (in German); see also § 3.2.

[2]

Gerson 1983/1942, p. 463, note 1; p. 467, note 3.

[3]

Gerson 1983/1942, p. 460.

[4]

Martin 1935, pp. 465-466.

[5]

Jespersen et al. 2010; North 2012.

[6]

Kramms extensive account of paintings and books of Karel van Mander III suggests he visited Denmark (Kramm 1857-1864, vol. 4 [1860], pp. 1055-1056), although there is no specific mention of a trip to the country in his biography in vol. 1, pp. 1-9.

[7]

Eller 1971, p. 421.

[8]

Bøggild Johannsen 2011, pp. 11-31. The proceedings of the conference ‘Reframing the Danish Renaissance. Problems and Prospects in a European Perspective’ (Copenhagen 2006) give a good insight into the current status of the research on the Renaissance in Denmark.

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