Agnes Lunn (1850–1941)
Standing Horse, ”Jarpr”, 1916
Bronze
13.4 x 18.5 x 5.2 cm
Agnes Lunn made several trips to Southern Europe, but Iceland was the one country with which she felt a special connection to. She visited the island frequently in the period 1902 to 1918, and during the eight summers she spent up there, one of her favourite pastimes was riding in the mountains.
[1] Another interest was shaping statuettes of the small, sturdily built Icelandic horses, including
Standing Horse, “Jarpr”.
Jarpr has been described as Agnes Lunn’s favourite horse in Iceland. She drew and painted it on many occasions, and eventually brought it back with her to Denmark.
[2] In 1916 she modelled this charming statuette depicting Jarpr with its characteristic compact body and short legs. As in B 150, we here see an animal exposed to strong winds as the long tail is wrapped around the left hind leg, the mane flutters along the neck and there are swirls in the thick fur. Nevertheless, Jarpr stands firm, unaffected by the windy weather because it is used to such conditions in Iceland.
The sculpture
Standing horse, “Jarpr” was a gift to C.L. David from Agnes Lunn. Over the years, more gifts followed, and today The David Collection is home to no less than thirty-four works by the artist, who was C.L. David’s aunt.
Inv. no. B 99
Published in:
Agnes Lunn's memorial exhibition in Efteraarsudstillingen 1942, Charlottenborg, København 1942, cat.no. 11;
Lollo Fogelström and Louise Robbert (eds.): De drogo til Paris. Nordiska konstnärinnor på 1880-talet, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm 1988, cat.no. 194;
Niels Oxenvad: Agnes Lunn. Maleri og Skulptur, Carl Nielsen Museet, Odense 1992, cat.no. 34, p. 8;
Niels Oxenvad in Kjeld von Folsach and Nana Lund (eds.): Dansk kunst i Davids Samling – fra Philipsen til Saxbo, Davids Samling, København 1995, cat.no. 42, pp. 112-113;
Eva Pohl: Gennembrud: kvinder i dansk kunst fra 1600-tallet til i dag, København 2021, pp. 92-94;
Karen Benedicte Busk-Jepsen: ”An Uphill Struggle. Danish Women Sculptors’ Quest for an Education” in Linda Hinners (ed.): Nordic Women Sculptors at the Turn of the 20th Century. Formation, Visibility, Self-Creation, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 2022, pp. 113, 115;
