With the theme "Fantasies", the Nolde Museum Seebüll is devoting itself for the first time to a hitherto little-noticed complex of works by Emil Nolde. Spontaneously and unconsciously, he painted curious creatures on canvas and paper throughout all phases of his career. They include both amusing companions and ghostly-looking creatures.
The famous Expressionist always saw nature animated by fantastic creatures: "the sky, the clouds, on every stone and between the branches of the trees, everywhere my figures stirred and lived in silent or wild vivid life". In the German-Danish borderland, the painter found, as he noted, "the twilight, the fantastic of the north". After each artistic excursion into the world of these creatures, however, he returned to reality: "When the proximity to the ground seemed to disappear in my romantic, fantastic free work, I stood searching again in front of nature, sinking roots into the earth."
Emil Nolde, Early morning flight, painting 1940 © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll
In the 2024 annual exhibition, paintings and watercolors from the Fantasies enter into a dialogue with masterpieces from the famous genres of flower gardens, landscapes, seascapes and figure paintings. The late "Unpainted Paintings" conclude the circle of fantastic works in their unbridled creativity, beyond the myth that was woven around their creation. The show invites visitors to pursue their own dreams and fantasies with relish and creativity and to join Nolde in exploring realms "beyond rules and cool knowledge". Engaging with this broadens one's own view of the inexhaustible possibilities for people to shape their lives and their environment. Indeed, Nolde's wealth of ideas will also fascinate the ever-growing community of fantasy world fans. The group of fantasies demonstrates the topicality of Nolde's work for the present day. Based on around 120 masterpieces from the collection, these and other considerations will be explored in the renovated residential and studio building.
March 1 to October 31, 2024
