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Kneeling boy

Title and year
Kneeling boy, 1942

Material
Bronze

Artist
Astrid Noack, 1888-1954

Location
In the grounds of Brundlund Slot, off Dronning Margrethesvej, Aabenraa

Description

Astrid Noack’s boy sculpture is determined and dignified. There are no props, trappings, or dramatic movements we can use to interpret or explain this figure. What we see is a simple, unadorned piece that calls to mind the Egyptian or archaic Greek style, characterized by frontality, stringency, and stylization.

In many ways Astrid Noack paved the way for other female artists. Notably, she was one of the first Danish women to earn a formal qualification, a “journeyman’s certificate”, in carving. She did so in 1910 after working for a number of years as a porcelain painter in Copenhagen. In 1920, Noack travelled to Paris on a stay funded by a tradesman’s stipend. She became part of the inner circle at the Académie Scandinave and brought the modernist trends back with her when she returned to Denmark.

She became the first female member of the well-known Copenhagen artist’s cooperative Grønningen.