A Lady. Emilie Marie Rovsing, née Raaschou

myminifactory

With her fashionable dress and up-to-the-minute plumed hat, Vilhelm Bissen's 'Lady' steps boldly out of a magazine from her day. The lift of her dress exposes the shoe, and the swaying spectator's pose makes her an art exhibition guest. Sculpture doesn't concern itself with ephemera, especially not marble sculptures. However, Bissen seeks to unite the immediate and the monumental. On his travels to Paris, Bissen discovers a more realistic vein of sculpture than the classical idealism familiar to him from the works of his father, H.W. Bissen (1798-1868), and Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844). The heritage from the grand father figure of Danish sculpture, Thorvaldsen, is not just a gift; it's also a burden that Bissen's contemporaries find difficult to liberate themselves from. Blissen challenges tradition and gradually moves away from Thorvaldsen towards the realism characterizing the art of the times. With its virtuoso realism, 'A lady' represents a high-water mark within Danish sculpture of the day. It also challenges the limits of what sculpture can accomplish, and indeed the lady has no immediate company. Peter Nørgaard Larsen, Chief Curator, Senior Researcher