The Scent of a Cardboard Box
Keywords:
Avantgarde, Gernes, 60s, 70s, ex-school, foundationAbstract
This article focuses on the registrar’s ongoing work in establishing a digital catalogue raisonné on the Danish artist Poul Gernes (1925-96). The article describes the process involved in this undertaking and reflects on the various challenges and choices that had to be considered. In a career lasting over six decades, Gernes created a monumental body of works, most of which are neither dated nor signed, as well as more than 160 public decorations. Gernes’ œuvre raises questions regarding authorship, authentication, and legislation, as well as issues pertaining to the chosen approach as a work-in-progress publication. The method adopted in this article is rather atypical in that consideration is given to some intangible, more personal factors, such as working with first-generation heirs.
References
Barnett, Endicott Vivian, Jilleen Nadolny, Katy Rogers, Eddy Schavemaker og Marije Vellekoop: “Guidelines for compiling a catalogue raisonné”, Den Haag, Authetication in Art (AiA), 2014.
Kopeczky, Róna: Kálmán Szijárto, EPC Nyomda, abc ResearchLab, abc Gallery, Budapest, 2017.
Larsen, Lars Bang: “The Re-Distribution of the Aesthetic: Poul Gernes as a Concretist” in Dirk Luckow (ed.), Poul Gernes, Snoeck, Køln, 2010, pp. 251-261.
Pedersen, Jane: At der er dejligt i Danmark, Ringkøbing, Borgen, 1971.
Saugman, Bibi Henriksen: “Kærlighed og kirsebær” in Ulrikka Gernes og Bibi Henriksen Saugman (ed.), Kærlighed & Kirsebær – Poul Gernes i Aars, Eks-skolens Grafisk Design & Tryk, Forlaget alter ego, 2020, pp. 25-31.
Ørum, Tania: De eksperimenterende tressere – kunst i en opbrudstid, Narayana Press, Gylling, Gyldendal, 2009.
Würtenberger, Loretta (ed.): The Artist’s Estate, Berlin, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2016.
