Odense

I toured the city of Odense today. Odense is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. They have a lovely museum that shows his life's highlights. He was over 6 feet tall and had size 12 feet. He did not have much luck in the romance area, but had many close friends and would tell stories to their children. For some he made picture books with elaborate paper cuttings. He was very good at doing paper cuts and was known to make them while telling a story. Then at the end of the story, he would unfold his paper cutting to reveal ballet dancers or soldiers or fairies dancing on a butterfly's wings. Many have been preserved and they are works of art.

Another famous artist from Odense is the composer Carl Neilsen. I am actually not very familiar with his work, but checked out the museum. The museum was also contained work by this wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen. Her sculptures are incredible. There was a piece of a horse and rider that I wanted to stuff in my purse (not enough room). A life-size bronze collie was also impressive.  Several busts were also on display. One of a middle-aged man didn't have him looking straight out, but looking up and to the left.

I found out from the guy at the desk that the Fyns Kunstmuseum was having an exhibition of her work to celebrate her 150th birthday. (She passed away in 1945) It contained a lot of smaller works and plaster models of larger works like her statue of King Christian IX. There were whole cases of various animals she sculpted - cows, sheep, horses, cats, barnyard fowl. The detail is wonderful. Her centaur is stretching his back legs in the exact same fashion as I've seen my own horses do. She had a sculpture of a woman weeding. It reminded me of stuff my uncle, Jim Daniels, used to carve in wood.