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Wilhelm Freddie (b. Copenhagen 1909, d. s.p. 1995)
“Nonnens bøn” (The nun's prayer). Signed Freddie 1937. Oil on canvas. 125×101 cm. In the painting “Nonnens bøn” (The nun's prayer), an amorphous, chained figure with its back to us is seen growing up out of the ground and into a mysterious, partly indefinable space. Attached all over the figure's body are notes with the initials INRI (the Latin inscription on Jesus) cross: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews). In Wilhelm Freddie's artistic avant-garde project, no established norms or institutions are spared. The photograph from Wilhelm Freddie's archive shows the artist posing in front of the painting in a previous state, where the figure is placed in a deep landscape-like space. The painting “Nonnens bøn” (The nun's prayer) belongs to an exclusive group of works and a period in Wilhelm Freddie's production which only very rarely comes up for auction. 1937 was the year of Wilhelm Freddie's much talked about scandalous exhibition “Træk Gaflen ud af Øjet på Sommerfuglen. Sex Surreal” (Pull the fork out of the eye of the butterfly. Sex Surreal) at Ole Haslunds Hus in Copenhagen, which, under close media attention, was closed by police. The works were confiscated and the artist was sentenced to mitigated imprisonment for the public exhibition of obscene content. Wilhelm Freddie's name was thus catapulted into broader public awareness in Denmark, but more as a result of the scandal than his art. Many years would pass before he won his rightful place in Danish art history as a pioneer of surrealism. From the early 1930s, Freddie was well informed about international Surrealism and the thinking of its chief ideologist André Breton, a fact echoed in the artist's remarks to the daily newspaper B.T. in 1931, when he publicly links himself to Surrealism for the first time: "[My art] is based on the theory that the subconscious, dreams and instincts are the only constants in human existence (...).
Surrealism is, it's an over-realism that simply denies the outer reality, which is a delusion, and leads the focal point to the inner reality" (quoted from Dorthe Aagesen pages 23–24 in the below mentioned book).
Exhibited: “Exposition internationale du Surréalisme”, Galerie Beaux-Arts, Paris: “La prière de la religieuse (1937)”, Janvier-Février 1938, cat. no. 89. Exhibited: “SURREALISME FREDDIE”, Raadhuspladsens Udstillingssal, Copenhagen, februar-marts 1940, cat. no. 15. Exhibited: “FREDDIE SURREALISME”, Ovenlyssalen, Aarhus, 4/10–19/10 1941, cat. no. 9. Exhibited: “FREDDIE SURREALISME”, Vestergade 68, Odense, 31/10–9/11 1941, cat. no. 9. Exhibited: “Wilhelm Freddie. Stik Gaflen i Øjet!” (Wilhelm Freddie. Stick the fork in your eye!), Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark), Copenhagen and Kunsten, Aalborg, 2009–2010, ill. and mentioned in the catalogue p.p. 209–210. Provenance: The pianist Max Rytter, Denmark. Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
The references to exhibitions and provenance has kindly been provided by Mr. Birger Raben-Skov, Copenhagen.
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Please note: The item is subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In the event of a hammer price of DKK 50,000 or more, including buyer’s premium, the buyer must submit a copy of a valid photo ID and proof of address in order to collect the item.
Modern paintings & sculptures, 3 March 2015