Egetræer ved udkanten af en skov 1886

Vilhelm Kyhn made this print of oak trees at the edge of a forest with etching. The subject seems simple, but throughout the 19th century in Denmark, images of the natural world were invested with new cultural significance. Following the Napoleonic wars, Denmark lost control of Norway and entered a period of national crisis. Artists looked to the natural landscape of Denmark for symbols of national identity and cultural pride, and this tendency was encouraged by the Royal Academy. The museum we’re standing in now, the SMK, became an important repository for such images, turning the representation of landscape into a matter of national heritage. We can better understand the networks of cultural and political institutions that shaped such images by researching the history of the Royal Academy, the biographies of its leading professors, and the early exhibition history of the SMK. We see that the meaning of art depends on the social context in which it is viewed.