Carl Rasmussen - Looking toward Greenland

Jens Erik Carl Rasmussen (1841–1893) was the first Danish artist trained at the Academy of Fine Arts who journeyed to Greenland – Kalaallit Nunaat – in order to paint the landscape and its people. Rasmussen made his first voyage in 1870, and went on painting Greenlandic motifs until his death, which came on his way home from a second voyage to Greenland in 1893. His paintings were among the very first images of Greenland’s landscape and people that Danes ever saw.

By considering Rasmussen’s works from various perspectives, giving multiple voices the floor, this exhibition seeks to create space for conversation about how images shape our understanding of places, people, and history – all while placing Carl Rasmussen more clearly within Danish art history, by exploring how his Greenlandic works came into being, how they circulated, and what role they played in presenting Greenland to a Danish audience.