GL STRAND focuses on the entry of the Avant-garde and Modernism in Scandinavia. The
exhibition presents key names among the more than 40 Nordic artists, who sought out
the art school of Henri Matisse in Paris during its lifespan between 1908 - 1910. The
school was the breeding ground regarding new ideas and experiments in painting. Some
of the most innovative Nordic students were Isaac Grünewald, Sigrid Hjertén, Astrid Holm,
Per Krohg and Henrik Sørensen, who are all represented in the exhibition.

Académie Matisse intended to introduce the young artists to the expressive idiom and art
appreciation of Fauvism. The school was extremely popular among artists from Northern
and Central Europe and even the USA. It became important not only for those students
who were accepted to the school, but also for those, who later became introduced to the
thoughts of Matisse by the returned students. In that way the school contributed to a
foundation and a starting point to a Nordic Modernism.

As the exhibition shows, the Matisse students offer a great variety in their work. Some
were strongly inspired by Fauvism and in particular by the king of “the wild beasts”
Matisse. Several others also tried out other modes of expression of the many parallel
Avant-garde movements of that period, and a few resisted the new ideas. In addition to
the individual achievements of the artists, the exhibition also sheds light on the period
after 1910, where the artists moved to the north and carrying with them new debates
about art. They were known as the front figures, whereas several others were
characterized as colourful personalities who brought other cultural tendencies as the
Argentine tango to Denmark. Among them were Per Krohg, Isaac Grünewald, Sigrid
Hjertén and Ludvig Karsten, who made Copenhagen in to an attractive centre of art during
the 1910s.

A richly illustrated double catalogue is available; one part contains Norwegian-Swedish
articles and another part holds a Danish contribution by art historian, mag.art. Dorthe
Aagesen dealing with the Danish art scene in the 1910s. The exhibition has already been
shown with great success at Kristinehamn konstmuseum (Sweden) and Lillehammer
Kunstmuseum (Norway).