The image builder, Georg Jacobsen

Danish painter Georg Jacobsen (1887-1976) has significantly influenced Norwegian visual art with his composition principles and thoughts about image building that have profoundly inspired generations. The exhibition will offer a unique chance to experience the richness of Jacobsen's works and to see how he clearly has inspired younger generations.

Jacobsen stated his works arose from a necessity to create order - a desire to take the image surface and space more actively into use with the help of geometric figures. Like other artists, such as Cezanne, he worked in several places on the canvas simultaneously, then gradually gathered the parts into a whole, with geometric figures. The exhibition shows works by Jacobsen himself, the surrounding circle, and his students known as the Jacobins.

Jacobsen's theoretical base has a firm grounding in studies of the old masters' rules for constructing a picture: principles of geometrical composition and, most importantly, the golden section–which he regarded as the eternal laws of painting. He wrote several books on these topics, and his masterpiece The Hare has been composed in strict accordance with these principles. An extensive exhibition that presents Georg Jacobsen's art can be seen at Trondheim kunstmuseum, Gråmølna. Haren was purchased from Jacobsen's solo exhibition in Trondhjems Kunstforening in 1961. The purchase was made with means from Minister H. H. Bachke's Gift–one of many proofs of what this generous donation made possible.