The Brask Collection meets Willumsen

Well-known Danish art collector presents private collection for new exhibition at JF Willumsens Museum

"JF Willumsen is without a doubt, and in my opinion, one of the greatest Danish painters who ever lived. I really got to know Willumsen when Claus Carstensen made the exhibition 'Cafe Dolly' at Willumsen's museum in 2013."

This is what Jens-Peter Brask – the art collector, art consultant and curator – says about his motivations for taking on the task of curating JF Willumsens Museum's new exhibition "Brask Collection meets Willumsen."

Shares art generously

In 1947, Willumsen generously donated his entire private art collection to the Danish state, thus making his art available to the public. And in the same way – albeit only on loan – the well-known Danish art collector is now making his own private collection available to the general public. In collaboration with Museum Director Lisbeth Lund, Jens-Peter Brask has selected works from his own private art collection and JF Willumsen's enormous production of paintings, graphics, photographs and sculptures. Many of the works from both collections touch on some of the same elements stylistically and expressively: the expressive, the colorful and the figurative. And that is what makes Jens-Peter Brask's collection so interesting in dialogue with Willumsen.

The central role of colors

“It has been both an exciting and challenging task to find the right works,” says Brask and continues, “Willumsen's intense use of colors and lighting is unlike any other and leaves you touched by the intensity and nerve that radiates from the works.”

And there will also be a blast of both colors and stories. The audience can experience works by Christian Lemmerz, Alexander Tovborg, John Kørner and Jesper Dalgaard as well as the New York-based artists Eddie Martinez, Ella Kruglyanskaya and Mira Dancy, among others.

Willumsen's works remain relevant

The exhibited works are characterized by strong colors, expressive figures and a fanciful universe, and it is striking to see how Willumsen's extremely modern expression clearly emerges in the dialogue with contemporary art. For Brask himself, it has been surprising to see how much the young contemporary artists from his own collection have in common with Willumsen. "Whether it is neon, ceramics or pictures of women painted many generations after Willumsen's death, they are in good harmony," he explains.

Willumsen's interest in light and the fluorescent is brought into play by Dan Attoe's neon works and Olafur Eliasson's shining sun, his captivating portraits of women light up in the encounter with the colorful paintings of three American female artists, and Willumsen's experimental ceramics from around 1900 appear ultra-modern in the dialogue with a handful of contemporary Danish artists' ceramic sculptures.

“Brask Collection meets Willumsen” opens on September 9, 2017 and continues until February 18, 2018.

Jens-Peter Brask Born in 1972, with roots in the graffiti scene, he is a former restaurateur and disco pioneer, and he has a rapidly growing art collection, containing works from primarily Danish and American contemporary artists. Jens-Peter Brask helps Danish and foreign companies, museums, organizations and other collectors develop their understanding of art and create diversity in their collections.

In addition, Jens-Peter Brask is one of Denmark's most prominent art collectors. He bought his first work 25 years ago – a drawing by Michael Kvium. Since then, the collection has grown steadily and today contains more than 2.000 works, with the main emphasis on Danish and New York-based artists. A common feature of the works in the collection is that they are primarily made by young artists. And Jens-Peter Brask's past in the graffiti and street art community shines through; the colors are bright and graffiti is included in several of the works.

J.F. Willumsen (1863-1958) is one of the most productive artists in Danish history with an incredibly varied production behind him. He has worked as a graphic artist, as an architect and photographer and as creative director at Bing & Grøndahl. But above all, he has created countless wild, daring and extremely colorful paintings. Despite his early painting debut, he is still very much relevant, and the modern expression in his later works in particular has placed him as a recognized name in today's art world. John Kørner, among others, is inspired by Willumsen's works.