The artists’ colony of Ekensund

How a collection of landscape paintings represents the image of a region

Authors

  • Hendrik Heft

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.11594

Abstract

The Museumsberg Flensburg, a museum for art and culture at the northern border of Germany, collects especially objects of fine art made around the Flensburg Fjord. The landscape at this part of the Baltic Sea is characterized by sandy beaches, forests which grow directly at the brink of the water and smooth rising hills. The specific profile of the region became popular among landscape painters in the late nineteenth century. They founded an artists’ colony and their paintings created and spread the image of this place. Today, visitors can experience this image, which is a suggestion of maritime lifestyle and the mixture of German and Danish culture, in the picture gallery at the Museumsberg. Even tourist agencies still use photos, films and other media to advertise the fjord as an idyllic paradise for outdoor activities. Telling the history of landscape painting at the Flensburg Fjord and how these artworks became an integral part of a museum collection reveals how the image of this region was born 150 years ago and developed until today.

Author Biography

Hendrik Heft

M.A.
Kaulbachstraße 4
34125 Kassel

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Published

2024-07-08