In the nineteenth century, a number of young and talented artists sprang from the fertile soil of southern Funen – including Peter Hansen, Fritz and Anna Syberg, and Jens Birkholm. They would form the core of the artists’ colony that emerged in 1880s Faaborg, reaching its acme with Faaborg Museum, founded in 1910 by Mads Rasmussen.

For the first time ever, Faaborg Museumpresents an exhibition that homes in on Faaborg’s artists’ colony, the relationship between its artists and the people and landscapes they portrayed, and particularly the works created in the city.

While still very young, several of these artists set out for Copenhagen to study painting under Kristian Zahrtmann. But Faaborg was in their blood, so they returned to their hometown, settling down to paint the landscapes and people of their native region.They were joined by new friends and acquaintances they had met at their Copenhagen school. A total of nineteen artists are numbered as part of the talented artists’ colony in Faaborg.

In the late nineteenth century, several artists’ colonies arose throughout Europe. Artists would settle outside the major cities in order to celebrate art, the local countryside and people, the sense of community and life itself.

The artists’ colony in Faaborg was unique – not just in Denmark, but internationally. The artists found there had studied art in Copenhagen and travelled widely in Europe, but they were also natives of Faaborg, closely connected to the people and landscapes they painted. In that sense, they truly lived the ideal to which many other artists aspired – achieving a special authenticity and affinity with rural life.

Exhibition catalogue: Faaborg i blodet – kunstnerkoloni 1880-1928 by Gertrud Hvidberg-Hansen and Gry Hedin.

Anthology: Faaborg Museum and the Artists’ Colony published in collaboration with Aarhus University Press.

Vizgu – learn more about the art

Faaborg Museum now offers easy access to information about a selection of the works on display via the Vizgu app. Install Vizgu on your smartphone, and the app will recognise the works when you scan them. Use it as your personal guide at the museum – and afterwards, too: the app saves all the works scanned, allowing you to continue listening and reading after your museum visit. Vizgu is free; downloads available for IOS and Android.