The Funish Art Colony
A newer generation of painters got their start through the Funish art colony. Sigurd Swane and Harald Giersing married into the core group and young talents like Olaf Rude, Jens Adolf Jerichau, Harald Leth and Sven Havsteen-Mikkelsen stayed at Mollebakken for long periods of inspiration.
Susan MurilloMar 26, 2021211470 Shares2819605 Views
The funish painters comprised a whole colony in the beginning of the 1900’s. The term “funish painters” covers an elastic group, which at its fullest size consisted of 10-15 members. On the other hand, no one can be in doubt as to its core members.
In addition to Alhed and johannes larsen, the other central figures were peter hansen and the couples anna and fritz syberg and christine and sigurd swane. Christine was johannes larsen’s little sister and lived only 110 m. From møllebakken (alhed’s and johannes’ home). She married sigurd swane, who made kerteminde his home for a few years.
Anna syberg was peter hansen’s sister, and came from faaborg on southern funen, as did fritz syberg, while johannes and christine larsen grew up in kerteminde (on northern funen). Alhed larsen’s childhood home, the manor erikshåb, lies about halfway between faaborg and odense. The funish painters were about the same age and knew each other in their teenage years. Their childhoods and family relations tied the funish painters to the two old market towns, faaborg and kerteminde, which today house the group’s two museums: the faaborg museum for funish art and the johannes larsen museum. In addition, most of the funish painters lived on funen.
A newer generation of painters got their start through the funish art colony. Sigurd swane and harald giersing married into the core group and young talents like olaf rude, jens adolf jerichau, harald leth and sven havsteen-mikkelsen stayed at mollebakken for long periods of inspiration.
The Museum’s Permanent Collection
The museum’s permanent collection includes works by the whole range of funish painters, but concentrates on paintings by alhed and johannes larsen, fritz syberg and christine and sigurd swane. In addition, there are paintings showing the build-up of an artistic environment in kerteminde prior to the advent of the funish painters, with paintings by hans smidth and christian eckhardt, among others, as well as echoes of the funish painters all the way up to the present. These are largely from their descendants, such as jeppe larsen and lars swane, and from a group inspired by the funish painters, such as thorvald hagedorn-olsen, sven havsteen-mikkelsen, john olsen and jens bohr. In all there are the works of more than 50 artists in our permanent collection.
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