Fishwife

Click to enlarge

Date:
1939

Type:
Statue

Materials:
Granite

Measurements:
C. 187 x 80 x 80 cm

Inscription:
On the left side top carved: "CH: SVEJSTRUP-M/1940"

Owner:
Copenhagen Municipality

Donated by:
The Foundation for the Promotion of Art in the City

Address:
Gammel Strand

Recommended litterature:
Monumenter Mindesmærker og Statuer i København Frederiksberg og Gjentofte, København 1944, 12. Stadens kunst. Københavns Kommunes Kunstfonds virke 1897-1947, red. Sigurd Thomsen, København 1950, 189. Hovedstadens monumenter mindetavler museer. En vejviser, København 1962, 24. Bent Zinglersen: Københavnske monumenter og mindesmærker, København 1974, 71. Jan Møller i: København før og nu – og aldrig. En billedkavalkade om København inden for voldene og søerne, red. Bo Bramsen, Bind 3: Strøget og Gammel Strand, København 1988, 371-72. Peter Bak Rasmussen & Jens Peter Munk: Skulpturer i København. 1999, 164-65. Jens Peter Munk: Bronze & granit. Monumenter i Københavns Kommune, København 2005, 60-61. Jens Peter Munk: Hafnia Metropolis - en stad vid vattnet. Identitet och självförståelse speglade av monument i: Minnesmärken. Att tolka det förflutna och besvärja framtiden, Stockholm 2007, 252-53. Peter Olesen viser rundt til sine 25 yndlingssteder i København, København 2008, 13.

We have more litterature about this monument - please contact us

The sculpture represents one of the fishwives from Skovhoved who once sold fish on this spot. There is now only a single one left. The statue was erected on 12 November 1940.

The newspaper Berlingske Tidende published the following poem under the title of “There’s Nothing Like a Change”:

“Art must be brought/ to the people./ This is a programme/ that is interpreted so/ that lots of /statues are raised/ on all greenswards /and open spaces./ A fishwife/ of six thousand kilos,/ that’s to say no real/ Venus de Milo/ can be admired/by later generations/ on the Fish Market/ at Gammel Strand./ She has been cost a great deal/ in purely monetary terms/ but on the other hand the woman is/immortal. People die, fish die,/ but the fishwife lives,/ she can easily last/ a hundred years./ And although she’s really/ not bad/ the sight of her/ makes one think./ One could avoid/ paying for the very costly/material,/ and it would perhaps/ please many/ if statues/ were made of snow./The city would lose nothing./ A little variety/ would be created,/ and the artists/ would have more to do, which of course/ can also be important./In winter,/ when all nature sleeps,/ we would have art/ to delight in./ In summer we have/ the green trees/ and then we have no need/ of works of art here.”