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The Women's Exhibition from the Past and Present () held in Copenhagen in 1895 was an art and culture exhibition for women from the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

. Inspired by the

1893 World's Fair The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

in Chicago, it was designed to demonstrate how far Nordic women had advanced in the areas of education, employment and art. The first of its kind in Europe, it was considered a great success.

Background

Kvindeudstillingens-gamle-og-nye-koekken

The Chicago World's Fair in 1893 had impressed Danish visitors with its

Woman's Building The Woman's Building was a non-profit arts and education center located in Los Angeles, California. The Woman's Building focused on feminist art and served as a venue for the women's movement and was spearheaded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic de ...

containing presentations of art and literature. Sophie Oxholm (1848–1935), who had visited the exhibition, was obviously impressed by the exhibition, especially the show of Danish needlework. On her return to Denmark, she immediately brought a number of influential women together with a view to arranging a Nordic women's exhibition in Copenhagen the following year. Despite initial enthusiasm, as a result of budgetary and management problems, it was announced in February 1894 that the exhibition would not be held until 1895. Oxholm, who experienced difficulty in managing the arrangements, gave up her position as head of the coordinating committee in early 1895. She was replaced by Bertha Buch of the Women's Society but it was Emma Gad (1852–1921) who proved to be the most effective member. Appointed deputy chair, Gad managed to complete all the arrangements on time. These included selecting the site of the exhibition which was ultimately shared between the Industrial Association building (''Industriforeningen''), which had been built in connection with the 1872 Nordic Exhibition, and the premises of

Den Frie Udstilling Den Frie Udstilling ('The Free Exhibition') is a Danish artists' association, founded in 1891 by artists in protest against the admission requirements for the Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Modeled on the Salon des Refusés, it is Denmark's oldest asso ...

. It was therefore possible for the exhibition to open on 22 June 1895 in the presence of Queen Louise.

Exhibition

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In addition to exhibits from Denmark, the exhibition contained areas specifically dedicated to the Danish provinces and overseas territories (

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

) as well as to Norway and Sweden. There are records of the 2,415 exhibits covering painting, curiosities (including items associated with celebrated women), arts and crafts, costumes, jewellery (including gold- and silverware), literature (manuscripts, journals and books) and appliances. There were also separate listings of exhibits relating to housekeeping, philanthropy, hygiene, education, household crafts (spinning and weaving, leather, wood, embroidery, silk painting, and

whitework Whitework embroidery is any embroidery technique in which the stitch and the foundation fabric (traditionally white linen) are of same color. Styles of whitework embroidery include most drawn thread work, broderie anglaise, Hardanger embroidery ...

), music and art. For the Den Frie Udstilling building, there was a separate inventory of 301 artworks, paintings and sculptures, listed by artist.

Key organizers

The two women who were instrumental in organizing the exhibition were Sophie Oxholm and, above all, Emma Gad.

Outcome

The Women's Exhibition was a great success. Not only was it appreciated in Denmark and beyond, it made a substantial profit. Gad had hoped the money could be used for an independent "Women's Building" (''Kvindernes Bygning'') with a meeting room, reading room, restaurant and accommodation for women from the provinces. Work did not begin on the building until 1929. It was completed in 1937.

Exhibitors

Works by the following artists were included in the Women's Exhibition:

Sculptors

Elna Borch Elna Inger Cathrine Borch (6 December 1869 – 3 October 1950) was a Danish sculptor. Although her known work is considered high quality by art dealers, Borch is today largely forgotten and little known to the general public. Biography Borch was ...

* Henriette Diderichsen *

Agnes Lunn Agnes Cathinka Wilhelmine Lunn (16 March 1850 – 12 December 1941) was a Danish painter and sculptor. Lunn's work focused on depictions of domestic animals, particularly Icelandic horse, Icelandic horses. She also produced landscape paintings an ...

(also painter) *

Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (born Anne Marie Brodersen; 21 June 1863 – 21 February 1945) was a Danish Sculpture, sculptor. Her preferred themes were domestic animals and people, with an intense, naturalistic portrayal of movements and sentime ...

* Johanne Pedersen-Dan *

Nielsine Petersen Nielsine Petersen (10 July 1851 – 26 November 1916) was a Danish sculptor. She was best known for her bronze statues and her work as a court sculptor. Today, she is most famous for her bronze statue of Hamlet and for ''En dreng, der fisker krabb ...

* Adelgunde Vogt (posthumous)

Composers

* Johanne Amalie Fenger *

Nanna Liebmann Nanna Magdalene Liebmann, née Lehmann, (September 27, 1849 – May 11, 1935) was a Danish, music educator, music critic, concert promoter and composer. Early life Nanna Lehmann was one of nine children born to a socially active family; her ...

* Elisabeth Meyer * Tekla Griebel Wandall

Painters

Anna Ancher Anna Ancher (18 August 1859 – 15 April 1935) was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists. Background An ...

* Marie Bang * Ville Bang * Brita Barnekow * Louise Bonfils * Alfrida Baadsgaard * Clara Carl *

Anthonore Christensen Anthonie Eleonore Christensen, generally known as Anthonore Christensen, née Tscherning (1849–1926) was a Danish flower painter. She exhibited from 1867 at Charlottenborg, winning the medal of the year in 1893. As a painting teacher, her stude ...

Augusta Dohlmann Augusta Dohlmann also known as ''Henriette Augusta Johanne Dohlmann'' (1847–1914) was a Danish painter. She was known for her flower painting. Biography Dohlmann was born in Frederiksberg on 9 May 1847. In 1878 she traveled to Paris to study F ...

* Charlotte Frimodt * Johanne Frimodt * Henriette Hahn-Brinckmann * Ane Marie Hansen *

Marie Henriques Marie Henriques (26 June 1866 – 12 January 1944) was a Danish painter who created landscapes, figure paintings and portraits, initially in the Realism (art), Realist style but increasingly under the influence of Impressionism. She also painted w ...

* Sophie Holten * Susette Holten *

Elise Konstantin-Hansen Elise Konstantin-Hansen (1858–1946) was a Danish painter and ceramist. She developed her own naturalistic style, often painting sea birds, animals, plants and beach scenes. Early life and education Konstantin-Hansen was born in the Frederik ...

* Johanne Cathrine Krebs * Birgitte Levison *

(also sculptor) *

Marie Luplau Henriette Marie Antonette Luplau (September 7, 1848 – August 16, 1925) was a Danish artist and educator, active in the women's movement. She conducted an art school for women in Copenhagen with her partner, artist Emilie Mundt. Early life and e ...

* Augusta Læssøe * Emma Løffler * Emma Meyer * Jenny Meyer * Emilie Mundt * Bertha Nathanielsen *

Dagmar Olrik Dagmar Olrik (1860–1932) was a Danish painter and tapestry artist. She is remembered for her weaving and tapestry work, in particular for decorating a room in Copenhagen City Hall, Copenhagen's City Hall with tapestries based on cartoons of Nord ...

Anna Petersen Anna Sophie Petersen (20 February 1845 – 6 August 1910) was a Denmark, Danish painter. Although she showed some promise as an artist, specifically in genre painting, she struggled to find a place in the male-dominated Danish art world of the ...

* Marie Preetzmann *

Louise Ravn-Hansen Louise Christiane Ravn-Hansen (19 July 1849, in Copenhagen – January 1909, in the Havel, Havel River, near Schwanenwerder) was a Danish landscape painter and etcher. Biography Her father was a railroad Stoker (occupation), stoker. She lost bo ...

* Holga Reinhard *

Marie Sandholt Anna Marie Louise Sandholt (1872–1942) was a Danish painter and ceramist who practised outdoor painting at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. Before studying painting, she had been active as an embroidery teacher. As a ceramist, she ...

* Charlotte Sannom * Laura Sarauw * Elisabeth Schiøtt * Ida Schiøttz-Jensen * Mimi Schwartzkopf * Anna Smidth * Olga Smith * Edma Stage * Emma Thomsen * Emmy Thornam *

Ludovica Thornam Ludovica Anine Vilhelmine Augusta Thornam (30 November 1853 – 27 May 1896) was a Danish portrait and genre painter. Biography Ludovica Thornam was born at Horsens in Jutland, Denmark. She was the daughter of Ludvig Thornam (1819–79) and Ani ...

* Elisabeth Tornøe * Nicoline Tuxen * Elisabeth Wandel *

Bertha Wegmann Bertha Wegmann (1847–1926) was a Danish portrait painter of Swiss ancestry. She was the first woman to hold a chair at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Life When Bertha Wegmann was five years old, her family moved to Copenhagen, where her ...

Posthumous

Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann Anna Maria Elisabeth Lisinska Jerichau-Baumann (21 November 1819 – 11 July 1881) was a Poland, Polish-Denmark, Danish painter. She was married to the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau. Early life and career Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann was born i ...

* Juliane Hammer (died shortly before the opening) * Eleonore Christine Harboe * Hanne Hellesen * Marie Knudsen * Julie Lütken * Christine Løvmand * Sophie Madsen * Hermania Neergaard *

Bolette Puggaard Bolette Cathrine Frederikke Puggaard née Hage (1798–1847) was a landscape painter of the Danish Golden Age, one of very few 19th-century Danish women whose art extended beyond flower paintings. She and her husband, the merchant and shipowne ...

Georgia Skovgaard Georgia Maria Luise Schouw-Skovgaard born Georgia Maria Luise Schouw (1828–1868) was a Danish embroiderer who is remembered above all for works depicting Danish flora, many of which were based on the artwork of her husband, the Danish Golden Age ...

(two sketchbooks from Italian travels 1854-55 and eight embroideries) * Mariane Stub *

Eleonora Tscherning Eleonora Christine Tscherning (1817–1890) was a Danish painter who created flower paintings and later landscapes, often working in the open air. She is also remembered as one of the most important memoirists of her day, writing letters and dia ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Source
1895 in Copenhagen Events in Copenhagen Festivals established in 1895 19th century in Copenhagen Art exhibitions in Denmark Women and the arts National exhibitions History of women in Denmark 1895 in women's history 1895 in art Women in Copenhagen