Danish Artist Hugo Larsen's Cultural Portrait of Our Islands 1904-1907
A Video about Hugo Larsen's Art from the Danish West Indies
Beskrivelse
Hugo Larsen's paintings and drawings of life in the Danish West Indies at the beginning of the 20th century are unique, not only from an artistic viewpoint, but also in a cultural context. He was the only artist of importance who with sensitivity and respect depicted the local population and its everyday activities in his art.
For that reason we possess through his images a singular documentation of Danish colonial history as well as the cultural heritage of the present day U.S. Virgin Islands.
One may wonder why Hugo Larsen's art has not been valued in the former Danish West Indies. The explanation is probably as simple as it is sad in a cultural sense: Many have wished to forget a period which few have reasons to be proud of.
But the Danish colonial time is part of the history and heritage. This is also true for the last and probably sad time before the Transfer.
Thus, St. Croix Friends of Denmark - with Nina York as the initiator and mainstay - have taken the initiative to produce a documentary about Hugo Larsen and the cultural portrait that he made of the then Danish West Indian Islands.
The film describes daily life in the Danish West Indies with the point of origin in Hugo Larsen's paintings and drawings and the story they tell. In addition there are a number of interviews with the Danish historian Per Nielsen, the local historians William Cissel, George Tyson and Myron Jackson, the novellist Edgar Lake, the artist Leo Carty and the art collector Eleanor Gibney.
The film has been produced by Erik Miles, Studio Five, a well-known local film maker with Danish roots. Script writer and story teller is the well-known novellist and poet Edgar Lake.
For that reason we possess through his images a singular documentation of Danish colonial history as well as the cultural heritage of the present day U.S. Virgin Islands.
One may wonder why Hugo Larsen's art has not been valued in the former Danish West Indies. The explanation is probably as simple as it is sad in a cultural sense: Many have wished to forget a period which few have reasons to be proud of.
But the Danish colonial time is part of the history and heritage. This is also true for the last and probably sad time before the Transfer.
Thus, St. Croix Friends of Denmark - with Nina York as the initiator and mainstay - have taken the initiative to produce a documentary about Hugo Larsen and the cultural portrait that he made of the then Danish West Indian Islands.
The film describes daily life in the Danish West Indies with the point of origin in Hugo Larsen's paintings and drawings and the story they tell. In addition there are a number of interviews with the Danish historian Per Nielsen, the local historians William Cissel, George Tyson and Myron Jackson, the novellist Edgar Lake, the artist Leo Carty and the art collector Eleanor Gibney.
The film has been produced by Erik Miles, Studio Five, a well-known local film maker with Danish roots. Script writer and story teller is the well-known novellist and poet Edgar Lake.