Rita Kernn-Larsen

Rita Kernn-Larsen’s Fantomerne (Phantoms) hover above seaweedy, coral like shapes, against a ground of pastel stripes. Said to have been inspired by a drowning the artist witnessed, her grey ghouls float like abstracted seals, with large, flipperish appendages and a dream-like quality to their dot-eyed gaze.

• Artist Rita Kernn-Larsen
• Artwork Fantomerne
• Exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders
• Material FSC Certified paper and wood
• Date of work 1934
• Credit Original: Fantomerne, 1934 Oil on canvas 120 x 75.5 cm Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen © DACS 2022

Rita Kernn-Larsen (1904 – 1998) was a Danish surrealist painter. First studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, but looking for a less traditional approach, she moved to Paris and joined Fernand Léger's academy. In the 1930s, she became a prominent figure in surrealism, and was one of only a few female artists to be included in the landmark London International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936, with her own solo exhibition there the following year. Her artwork, sometimes employing Freudian overtones and nude figures, was considered scandalous by some critics. Staying in London, she moved away from surrealism during the war years, preferring realism during that time. Moving to France in the post-war years, she began to work on landscapes and ceramics, and also authored a children’s book, The Golden Village. Her last exhibition was at Randers Art Museum, Denmark, in 1995.

• Product Code S22294