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MILESTONES IN 1950
1950
The exhibition of
Skov’s most recent Neo-cubist work in May of 1950 represented a significant
milestone for Danish modern art as well as for himself, because it was the
first major presentation of Cubism shown in Copenhagen up till that time.
The exhibition was arranged by Joergen Falk-Jensen at the art gallery
Athenaeum Kunsthandel in Copenhagen with the awareness that practically none of the
Danish museums had any significant representation of either international
or Danish Cubist art.
This was no mere
coincidence: at the time, Cubism was simply not appreciated in Copenhagen. Led by a small group of strongly opinionated
individuals, the Danish art establishment had for over a generation been
consistently successful in denying it recognition, financial support and
access to any state sponsored exhibitions. Both Skov and Falk-Jensed,
however, assumed that there were others who surreptitiously appreciated the
merits of Cubism, who better understood its aesthetics and the needs for
its innovative, post-Renaissance perception. And they hoped that they could
help to generate an open dialogue about Cubism within Danish art circles.
The exhibition
contained 22 paintings selected from the period from 1946 through 1950;
four were still-lifes from the Madeira Period 1946-48, twelve were from
1949, and the last six from the spring of 1950. During these four years
Skov had painted approximately 170 paintings and the sample showed his
developmental path from Proto-cubism to mature Cubism, including the
amalgamation of analytical and synthetic Cubist expressions. Since his main
objective during this period had been the achievement of complete
understanding of Cubism, he was gratified with the immediate reaction of
several art critics who unequivocally confirmed that his work was true
Cubism, identifying it with the characteristics of the best known and
aesthetically strongest Cubists. Indeed, even the most senior Danish art
critic, Kai Flor, wrote in part: “Picasso,
Juan Gris and Braque are the names that unintentionally come to mind while
observing his still-lives with mandolin, violin, fish head, playing cards,
hat and melon. They have the firm contour of one, the broken planes of the
other and the sophisticated colors of the third. But, even with this
resonance taken into consideration, there is something arresting and
personal in Rasmus Skov’s paintings. [Kai Flor, Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen; 12
May, 1950].
Skov, however, did
not limit his artistic endeavor to be merely an aesthetic concern. For some
time he had felt his work should as much
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