The David Collection
Encyclopedia
The David Collection is a museum
of fine
and applied art
in Copenhagen
, Denmark
, built around the private collections of lawyer, businessman and art collector C.L. David
.
The museum is particularly noted for its collection of Islamic art
from the 8th to the 19th century, which is one of the largest in Northern Europe. The museum also holds fine and applied art from Europe
in the 18th century and the Danish Golden Age as well as a small collection of Danish early modern art. All the works of art in the collection of Danish early modern art were acquired by C.L. David
himself.
The museum is located in a neo-classical building in 30 Kronprinsessegade
in central Copenhagen, overlooking Rosenborg Castle Garden. From 2006-09 the collection was closed to the public while the premises underwent a major refurbishment and rearrangement. When it reopened on May 15, 2009, it was descriped as "the most exclusive museum in Denmark" in national Danish newspaper Politiken
.
of the Danish Supreme Court. The building in Kronprinsessegade
which houses the museum used to be the private home of the founder and was originally bought in 1810 by his great-grandfather, C.N. David, but sold again in 1830. I 1917 it was re-acquired by C.L. David who took up residence in it but also made made his collection available to the public at the upper floors of the building.
On 12 December 1945
, the collection, along with the building which houses it, became the independent institution, the C. L. David Foundation and Collection, and the museum opened in 1948. Over the years, the exhibition space was continuously expanded and rebuilt as the collections grew. In 1960, on the death of its founder, the Foundation became the sole heir to his fortune.
In 1986, the foundation acquired the adjacent property, 32 Kronprinsessegade, where the architect Vilhelm Wohlert
, also known for the design of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
, designed a whole new gallery for the expanding collection of Islamic miniatures in 1990.
Further rebuildings have gradually included more rooms and improved facilities. In 2006 the museum was temporarily closed to the public when it embarked on a major refirbishment and rearrangement of the collections. It reopen on May 15, 2009.
The building was constructed in the prevailing Neo-Classical style for Captain J.C. Krieger by his brother-in-law, the city surveyor, J.H. Rawert. The floor plan of the building along with that of the other houses in the street is a characteristic L-shape consisting of three rooms facing the street, the dining room in the corner of each floor — where the front building meets the side building — together with a series of smaller rooms in the latter section. The side building is further extended by means of a side annex of five storeys which originally included the kitchens and servants’ quarters.
The architect Carl Petersen
was responsible for the first rebuilding of the top floor, where the roof was given a steeper pitch so as to create adequate space for two large, skylighted rooms. This rebuilding was completed around 1920.
Part of the top floor were made into three rooms, finished in Neo-Classical style with partly coffered ceilings
, tall panel
s, and patterned parquet floor
s. Two of the rooms also had skylights since these rooms were used as galleries. The woodwork still attracts much attention. The wood comes from the King Christian VI
's dock, which was broken up in 1918. The darker or lighter colour of the oak depends on the time it has spent in the water.
In 1928, the architect Kaare Klint designed two exhibition rooms for the growing collection of porcelain. The walls are covered with Douglas-fir
and the exhibition cases were manufactured in Rudolf Rasmussen's workshop. The rooms and the exhibition cases are still in use, but now exclusively for the Islamic collection.
The current rebuilding of the museum, lasting until May 15, 2009, is undertaken by Wohlert Arkitekter.
in the West to India
in the East and dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.
The European and Danish collections include:
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of fine
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
and applied art
Applied art
Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, built around the private collections of lawyer, businessman and art collector C.L. David
C.L. David
C.L. David was a Danish lawyer, businessman and art collector...
.
The museum is particularly noted for its collection of Islamic art
Islamic art
Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations...
from the 8th to the 19th century, which is one of the largest in Northern Europe. The museum also holds fine and applied art from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the 18th century and the Danish Golden Age as well as a small collection of Danish early modern art. All the works of art in the collection of Danish early modern art were acquired by C.L. David
C.L. David
C.L. David was a Danish lawyer, businessman and art collector...
himself.
The museum is located in a neo-classical building in 30 Kronprinsessegade
Kronprinsessegade
Kronprinsessegade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Noted for its fine Neoclassical houses, it extends from Gothersgade and runs along the southern boundary of Rosenborg Castle Garden, passing Sølvgade and the Nyboder district of old naval barracks before finally joining Øster Voldgade...
in central Copenhagen, overlooking Rosenborg Castle Garden. From 2006-09 the collection was closed to the public while the premises underwent a major refurbishment and rearrangement. When it reopened on May 15, 2009, it was descriped as "the most exclusive museum in Denmark" in national Danish newspaper Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
.
History
The museum is built around the private collection of Christian Ludvig David (1878–1960), a barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
of the Danish Supreme Court. The building in Kronprinsessegade
Kronprinsessegade
Kronprinsessegade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Noted for its fine Neoclassical houses, it extends from Gothersgade and runs along the southern boundary of Rosenborg Castle Garden, passing Sølvgade and the Nyboder district of old naval barracks before finally joining Øster Voldgade...
which houses the museum used to be the private home of the founder and was originally bought in 1810 by his great-grandfather, C.N. David, but sold again in 1830. I 1917 it was re-acquired by C.L. David who took up residence in it but also made made his collection available to the public at the upper floors of the building.
On 12 December 1945
1845 in Denmark
-Incumbents:* Monarch – Christian VII* Prime minister – Poul Christian Stemann-Events:* December 12 – The David Foundation and Collections is founded as an independent institution by C.L...
, the collection, along with the building which houses it, became the independent institution, the C. L. David Foundation and Collection, and the museum opened in 1948. Over the years, the exhibition space was continuously expanded and rebuilt as the collections grew. In 1960, on the death of its founder, the Foundation became the sole heir to his fortune.
In 1986, the foundation acquired the adjacent property, 32 Kronprinsessegade, where the architect Vilhelm Wohlert
Vilhelm Wohlert
Vilhelm Wohlert was a Danish architect.Wohlert was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' School of Architecture, where one of his teachers was Kaare Klint. In 1958 he and his partner Jørgen Bo started work on the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, a project on which they would work for...
, also known for the design of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II and up...
, designed a whole new gallery for the expanding collection of Islamic miniatures in 1990.
Further rebuildings have gradually included more rooms and improved facilities. In 2006 the museum was temporarily closed to the public when it embarked on a major refirbishment and rearrangement of the collections. It reopen on May 15, 2009.
The building
Following the Copenhagen Fire of 1795 the king granted the city a strip of land which had been part of the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. It was on this land that Kronprinsessegade 30 was built in the years 1806–07 together with other houses in the street.The building was constructed in the prevailing Neo-Classical style for Captain J.C. Krieger by his brother-in-law, the city surveyor, J.H. Rawert. The floor plan of the building along with that of the other houses in the street is a characteristic L-shape consisting of three rooms facing the street, the dining room in the corner of each floor — where the front building meets the side building — together with a series of smaller rooms in the latter section. The side building is further extended by means of a side annex of five storeys which originally included the kitchens and servants’ quarters.
The architect Carl Petersen
Carl Petersen
Carl Petersen was a Danish politician, representing the Social Democratic Party in Parliament . He served as Minister for Public Works in 1945, Traffic Minister from 1947 to 1950 and again from 1953 to 1955, Minister for Agriculture in 1950, and Interior Minister of Denmark from 30 August 1955 to...
was responsible for the first rebuilding of the top floor, where the roof was given a steeper pitch so as to create adequate space for two large, skylighted rooms. This rebuilding was completed around 1920.
Part of the top floor were made into three rooms, finished in Neo-Classical style with partly coffered ceilings
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
, tall panel
Wall panel
A wall panel is single piece of material, usually flat and cut into a rectangular shape, that serves as the visible and exposed covering for a wall. Wall panels are functional as well as decorative, providing insulation and soundproofing, combined with uniformity of appearance, along with some...
s, and patterned parquet floor
Parquetry
Parquetry is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring. Parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring...
s. Two of the rooms also had skylights since these rooms were used as galleries. The woodwork still attracts much attention. The wood comes from the King Christian VI
Christian VI of Denmark
Christian VI was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746.He was the son of King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He married Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and fathered Frederick V.-The reign and personality of Christian VI:To posterity Christian...
's dock, which was broken up in 1918. The darker or lighter colour of the oak depends on the time it has spent in the water.
In 1928, the architect Kaare Klint designed two exhibition rooms for the growing collection of porcelain. The walls are covered with Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
and the exhibition cases were manufactured in Rudolf Rasmussen's workshop. The rooms and the exhibition cases are still in use, but now exclusively for the Islamic collection.
The current rebuilding of the museum, lasting until May 15, 2009, is undertaken by Wohlert Arkitekter.
Collections
The collection is most noted for its collection of Islamic art and contains works from almost the entire Islamic cultural sphere, from SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in the West to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in the East and dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.
The European and Danish collections include:
- Paintings by Danish painters such as Christoffer Wilhelm EckersbergChristoffer Wilhelm EckersbergChristoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig , to Henrik Vilhelm Eckersberg, painter and carpenter, and Ingeborg Nielsdatter...
, Christen KøbkeChristen KøbkeChristen Schiellerup Købke , Danish painter, was born in Copenhagen to Peter Berendt Købke, a baker, and his wife Cecilie Margrete. He was one of 11 children...
and Vilhelm HammershøiVilhelm HammershøiVilhelm Hammershøi , often written in English Vilhelm Hammershoi , was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, low-key portraits and interiors. In 1997, Denmark issued a postage stamp in his honor.-Life:...
as well as French painters such as François BoucherFrançois BoucherFrançois Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
and Jean-Baptiste PerronneauJean-Baptiste PerronneauJean-Baptiste Perronneau was a French painter who specialized in portraits executed in pastels....
. - Furniture (ChippendaleChippendaleChippendale may refer to:*Thomas Chippendale, or his furniture*Thomas Chippendale, the younger, son of Thomas Chippendale*Chairface Chippendale, a supervillain*Chippendales, a chain of clubs and troupe of performers*Chippendale, New South Wales...
, works by David Roentgen) - PorcelainPorcelainPorcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
(including early Meissen porcelainMeissen porcelainMeissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
) and faienceFaienceFaience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip... - Silverware
- A small group of paintings, sculptures, and ceramics made by Danish artists between c. 1880 and 1950 including paintings by Vilhelm Hammershøi and Jens Ferdinand Willumsen