Art and Shopping

With the end of our trip in sight, those things that we had kept in mind to “look out for” at some point were still there in mind. If we were to take any of them home, time was getting short.

Our hotel is well placed in the city, right opposite the main station, to which is attached a large shopping centre. We thought we'd spend an hour in there first thing this morning and see what we might find.

As we crossed the street, I took the opportunity to snap the clock tower of the City Hall which is quite a landmark here.

This morning, beneath the tower was somewhat of a curiosity: someone had created some bubbles in the fountain there, which was creating some interest and amusement.

As always when we step inside a city station like this, I wonder how people accustomed to such a place feel when they step inside Paddington or Euston?

We wandered right on through to the shops, almost immediately coming across a favourite: Sostrene Grene.

There were times not so long ago when I would have had to exercise a great deal of restraint here, for the shop is filled with all kinds of things that are right up my street. However, we now have two - or three - branches close on hand at home and so today, I simply took a few photos of things to add to my shopping list.

Sostrene Grene and another neighbouring store, a quite familiar and rather useful shop from our travels in Scandinavia called Normal have one thing in common. Actually, it's a characteristic shared by both IKEA and Tiger shops too: they have a single planned route which must be followed by customers because the displayed items preclude any variations or short cuts. Is this a Scandinavian thing?!

One thing on our list didn't involve bobbing and weaving through miles of goods for sale: the Lakrids shop was almost the first thing we saw when we left the car park on Thursday afternoon. This brand of liquorice is our favourite and for the last few years we've indulged ourselves with one of their Advent calendars. This entitled us to free samples of new flavours whenever we're in the shop - but since we are never in one of their shops, we don't really benefit. Until now!

After a short stop at the hotel, we retraced our steps from yesterday, past the Pig Well. We stopped to take a look for the clockwork variations, but it didn't seem to be working. Never mind.

We were heading for ARoS, the art museum across the way which we'd seen yesterday.

The bland brick building gave no clue to the stunning interior which seemed to have a feeling of the Guggenheim about it.

Whilst my Hero got the tickets, I was bemused by the person standing - posing - there in front of the huge glass window. (Or was it really an Antony Gormley-esque figure?)

Tickets in hand, we headed up to the top to work our way down as we usually do, starting our tour at the artwork on the roof, entitled Your Rainbow Panorama, created by Olafur Eliasson in 2011. Another one of the city landmarks.

Once inside, the changing colours didn't feel quite so apparent as they appear in the photos, but oh my word, was it hot in there!!

Though there were fabulous views throughout the whole 360 degrees, photographs I took were way overshadowed by the overlaid hue.

It was quite an experience though, and having started the circular walk, then of course, one has to continue, for the exit was the same door as the entrance.

The floor immediately beneath the Rainbow panorama was a roof terrace and I have no need to say what a relief that first breath of fresh air was after the heat of the walkway. From here there were fabulous views of the city, to the port and to the bay beyond. We were intrigued by those steps, which we later discovered to be the Salling Roof garden and viewing platform.

Up here on the roof terrace were comfortable chairs too, making a pleasant place to sit and enjoy the afternoon sunshine for a short while.

Not wanting to sit in the strong sunshine for long, however, we decided it was time to see some of the art here. ARoS has the oldest museum collection outside Copenhagen, having been established by the citizens of the city in 1859 and we were keen so see some of it!

We focused on the permanent collection, choosing our favourite pieces as we looked around. I particularly liked this landscape of Moesgaards Strand by Janus la Cour, a painter from the Århus region. I hadn't heard of him before, but learned that he often depicted these coves around Århus Bay and I felt pleased that, of all the paintings in this room, purely by chance, the one I chose was a local scene.

I was rather curious about this work. which was creating a great deal of interest and without a label nearby, I hoped I identified it with the correct label on an adjacent wall. An internet search on our return to the hotel confirmed its identity as Christian III’s Tombstone, by Bjørn Nørgaard Not only that, I got a clearer look at it on his website too!

Entering the next room, Hanne Varming's Woman just seemed to be leaning casually on a door frame, looking so natural and so real. I thought she looked like she was about to tell me something. She's another Danish artist I hadn't come across before but will now investigate further.

I found my Hero looking at P S Kroyer's Hunters of Skagen as if he'd just encountered an old friend. Hang on a minute, hadn't we just seen that same painting in Skagen, a couple of days ago? Well, yes and no. I had certainly taken a photograph of it, but it's this painting that's the original and the one in the Skagen collection is the reproduction. Hmmm.

Another work of the Skagen artists was hanging nearby. Anna Ancher's work caught my eye but sadly, I can't find the title anywhere. It's typical of her compositions though, with a back view of a female figure in a domestic setting.

From here we went down a floor and were immediately captivated (or unsettled by?) Ron Mueck's Boy from 1999. Part of the ARoS collection here, I feel sure I have seen it somewhere previously, though have no idea where.

We wandered through these galleries finding few pieces to capture our heart or our interest, for that matter, until we came to W’arhol's Marilyn, which took us right back to Pittsburgh and a room filled with this image. So powerful, so clever and incredibly representative of its time. I love it.

We could have stayed longer. There was plenty more to see. But we work on the principle of quitting whilst we are ahead and gently returned to the floor where we'd started. A short browse in the (lovely) gift shop brought our visit to an end.

So glad we had the chance to come to ARos, where the magnificent architecture more that matches the great work hanging on the walls inside!