Aa i Borrevejle Skov 1898

Curator: Let’s consider Thorvald Niss’s 1898 etching, “Aa i Borrevejle Skov,” held here at the SMK. It captures a quiet scene in the Borrevejle Forest. Editor: Oh, it's got that hushed, almost haunted quality, doesn't it? The light shimmering on the water, those tangled trees… it feels like stepping into a forgotten fairytale. Curator: Niss, deeply involved in the artistic and intellectual currents of his time, created this piece as part of a larger movement that grappled with ideas of national identity and the romanticization of nature, something especially potent in late 19th-century Scandinavia. We can view the forest as a reflection of deeper cultural anxieties. Editor: Anxieties maybe, but I feel the solitude. You know, like those childhood forts you'd build – a secret world known only to you. It is just me thinking that he really knew how to etch that water... like a perfect silver mirror. Curator: The etching technique is also significant. During this time, printmaking was increasingly accessible, allowing for broader dissemination of artistic visions and, of course, reflecting burgeoning democratic ideals. Editor: Democracy of the woods! I love that. He makes you want to touch that light, see if it’s real. And something about the monochrome tones adds such mystery, a whole spectrum contained. Did everyone back then think forests held a key? Curator: It's more than just a key; for Niss and his contemporaries, the forest represented an authentic link to their cultural and historical past and it symbolized a kind of refuge. Examining this through the lens of ecocriticism also reveals how artists portrayed human engagement with nature during rapid industrialization. Editor: Okay, okay, ecocriticism… Got it. For me, though, it still whispers of simple escape. You know, finding wonder in a tiny stream and the weird-shaped branches... I'd bet Niss felt that too when his pen touched that copper. Curator: And isn’t that the beauty of art? It gives access points, bridging individual emotions to wider historical understanding and inspiring questions about nature, selfhood and cultural inheritance? Editor: Absolutely! I might still prefer my fairytale escape but getting all that history just makes the forest feel deeper and stranger now.