Bakkehuset
FRIENDSHIPS ON PAPER - FRIEDERIKE BRUN'S GOLDEN AGE
6. September 2023 - 31. March 2024
1801 Frederiksberg C
T: +45 33 31 43 62
E: bakkehuset@frederiksbergmuseerne.dk
Bakkehuset’s exhibition ”Friendships on Paper – Friederike Brun’s Golden Age” tells the story of a remarkable woman in the early Golden Age, who lived a life different from what many contemporary women could dream of. Friederike Brun traveled around Europe and surrounded herself with the greatest artists of the 19th century, and for the first time ever a larger collection of the unique works she collected from them is being exhibited.
Friederike Brun was both a writer, salon hostess, patron and art collector. She belonged to the economic and cultural elite in Denmark and created a famous salon where the greatest artists, intellectuals, scientists and politicians of the 19th century came. She did not remain in the shadows, but created her own fame, which was remarkable for a woman at that time. Her travels around Europe gave her the opportunity to cultivate her love of art and literature, and she became friends with well-known artists such as Bertel Thorvaldsen, Antonio Canova, J.L. Lund and Angelica Kaufmann. She acquired drawings, watercolors, papercuts and gouaches from many of these artists, which were then put into her pedigree.
With the pedigree, Friederike Brun entered a long tradition of pedigrees, which started all the way back in the 16th century. However, Friederike Brun’s pedigree is quite unique and contains an exciting story in itself. After her death in 1835, her descendants continued to add new works of art to the pedigree, and it ended up containing 191 works in total, dating from the period 1783 to 1883.
Today the pedigree is located at Bakkehuset and for the first time ever the exhibition ”Friendships on Paper – Friederike Brun’s Golden Age” presents a significant selection of the works that were originally stored in it. This has become possible after extensive conservation of the book and the works in 2019, where the works were taken out of the pedigree for preservation reasons.
Friederike Brun had a special relationship with Bakkehuset through her friend Kamma Rahbek, who was also a skilled salon hostess and literary enthusiast. Friederike Brun had a poem published in the journal Minerva, which was edited by Kamma Rahbek’s spouse K.L. Rahbek. Kamma herself helped polishing her friend’s texts.
In ”Friendships on Paper – Friederike Brun’s Golden Age”, visitors are invited to explore the works of the pedigree and gain an insight into the artistic exchange and artist friendships that were established in 19th-century Europe, as well as delve into the story of a very special female figure from the beginning of the Danish Golden Age.
”Friendships on Paper – Friederike Brun’s Golden Age” will be exhibited at Bakkehuset from September 6, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
