Danish

Last night I watched an episode of Andrew Graham-Dixon's The Art of Scandinavia. The subject was Danish art, so I was expecting good stuff. Alas, I was disappointed: for one thing, this was more a potted cultural history of Denmark, from Christian IV and the Frederiksborg Palace to the original Legoland, by way of Hand Christian Andersen (no Kierkegaard). But more importantly, the coverage of actual Danish art was at best patchy. Plenty of Thorvald's heroic neo-classical sculpture (a little of which goes a long way), and more than enough of Eckersberg's unalluring nudes – after which it was straight on to Hammershoi's pallid interiors. So, no sighting of the greatest of the Golden Age painters, Cristen Koebke, no Golden Age landscapes (that's one of Købke's above), and nothing of Krøyer and the Skagen painters – in other words, all the most beautiful and enjoyable Danish art was missing. Though I can't say I like him, I know Graham-Dixon has made some excellent TV programmes, many of…