On the Edge of the World is the first exhibition of Danish artist L.A. Ring’s work in the United States. Ring worked within the Symbolist and Realist tradition in the early 20th century, documenting the change in lifestyle occurring during that period in Denmark. Though extremely important to both Danish and Nordic culture, his work is relatively unknown outside his native land. The exhibit features 25 key paintings that best represents the work Ring did as a whole. He drew a lot of inspiration from his domestic life with his wife and children as well as the emotional and financial despair from losing his father and brother, plunging his family into poverty for a period.
I felt especially drawn to the figures in his work that are portrayed on the threshold of a door, a window, or, in the above case, at a literal crossroads. In “Waiting for the Train,” there’s a mesh of perspectives—our eye is drawn deep into the background by the paved road, but is cut perpendicularly by the railroad tracks in the other direction. We can see this as a visual representation of the competition for the old way of the world that Ring was familiar with and another that would see all of Denmark connected through modern systems of transportation.
I like the man’s hesitancy, how he’s just about to do something. Though he has no choice but to wait for the train to pass, there’s something inscrutable in his expression. He doesn’t seem to have made up his mind regarding coming or going; letting the world in or keeping it at bay. Ring captures this wobbliness of dawning twentieth-century European life quite well. It reminded me of my soupy ten-minute wait for the Link this morning.
I also found myself drawn to Ring’s landscapes which, to me, reflect the same sort of bright gray that plagues Seattle for most of the year. “The Road at Mogenstrup, Zealand. Autumn,” is a bit hopeless; there’s a dull ache of depression entrenched in the paint. If you sidle up close to it, you see all the neutral tones that compose the dreary scene. In a documentary about Ring that’s playing in the front of the gallery, Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen (whom you may recognize from Sherlock or as the brother of Denmark’s greatest living actor) reflected that Ring’s landscapes contain just as much of his moods and emotions as his figurative paintings. I agree.
What do you feel when looking at them? The show closes this weekend so get over there.
