THE GALLERY
The sculptor Rudolph Tegner inaugurated his museum building north of Copenhagen
in 1938 to house his giant plaster sculptures, having sought the architetural expertise
of Mogens Lassen’s close collaborator, the engineer Ernst Ishøy. As many times
before, Ishøy and Lassen collaborated on this project. Indeed, an old architectural
drawing of the museum building dating back to 1937 shows Lassen’s characteristic
cursive signature, as a mark of the latter’s support of Tegner’s original concept for
the eight-sided main building, which the principals were of the functionalist modernist
architecture, where Lassen already pioneered within.
Originally the walls were cast in the raw cement, as was characteristic of Ishøy
and Lassen’s collaboration; 80 years later, the walls have been restored and
stained in ochre, turquoise and terracotta. At once pompous, yet unpretentious and
overwhelmingly inviting, the museum is treasure trove to discover.
So it’s fitting that, to show its SS18 collection, by Lassen has staged a number of its
pieces in the building, side by side with Tegner’s sculptures – and in doing so, the
brand shines a light on the story of a colla
~
boration that, 80 years later, still remains
powerful.
1