The Albertina Foundation (
Danish: Legatet Albertina) was a philanthropic foundation created by
Carl Jacobsen
Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the tra ...
in 1879 with the aim of installing sculpture in the public realm, particularly in the parks, of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The artworks include casts of classical Roman and Greek statues and works by contemporary artists. The foundation is named after
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...
, who in Italy went by the name of Alberto.
History
The foundation was established on
19 October 1879. It was administrated by a board consisting of the founder and two other members appointed by the City Council and the
Art Academy
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...
respectively. From the beginning, there were disagreements on the board as to what artworks to acquire. Jacobsen wanted
contemporary French art while
Ferdinand Meldahl
Ferdinand Meldahl (16 March 1827 – 3 February 1908) was a Danish architect best known for the reconstruction of Frederiksborg Castle after the fire in 1859. Meldahl was one of the leading proponents of historicism in Denmark.
Biography
He was t ...
, who represented the City Council, leaned towards Danish artists. As a compromise, 14 of the 15 sculptures which the foundation acquired during the first ten years of its existence were castings of classical works.
When Carl Jacobsen died in 1914, his oldest son, Holger Jacobsen, took over his seat on the board. Gradually, due to inflation, acquisitions dwindled. The foundation was finally dissolved on
19 November 2002, after 123 years of operations. The last funds were spent on
Jørn Larsen's water feature on
Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads in front of
Thorvaldsens Museum
The Thorvaldsen Museum is a single-artist museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to the art of Danish and Icelandic Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), who lived and worked in Rome for most of his life (1796–1838). The ...
.
[
]
List of statues
See also
* Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...
References
{{reflist
External links
PDF
about the foundation's history (in Danish)
1879 establishments in Denmark
Arts in Copenhagen
Danish sculpture
Organizations established in 1879