The Path to the Monumental

Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen first made an international mark with her animal studies – small sculptures that beautifully capture the movements of animals. But her ambitions reached further, and in 1908 she won the competition for an equestrian statue of King Christian IX. However, the work on the monument became a years-long story of suffering. Along the way, she fought many painful battles and suffered several painful setbacks before the impressive statue was finally erected at Christiansborg's riding ground in 1927.

The most serious of these setbacks, however, instead turned into a prominent work in Skagen – a statue at Havnepladsen, the motif and design of which became the beginning of yet another series of battles. It is often said in the story of the sculpture that the choice of a fisherman from Hanstholm as a model sparked a popular uprising in the town, as a Hanstholmer in Skagen was seen as an insult to the local men, who risked their lives at sea every day.

In fact, the sculpture was never intended for Skagen, but the model could easily have been a local Skagen resident. When Anne Marie began the work in 1908, she wrote to Anna Ancher, one of the first things, to inquire whether there was an opportunity to see the lifeboat in Skagen go out for practice – so she could observe the work and perhaps find a suitable model among the rescuers.

However, the reply that came at the end of August was that the lifeboat would hardly be going out again that year unless there was an accident. Anne Marie, therefore, had to look for another fisherman to model after, and the path from there to the statue's unveiling in 1932 was long, winding, and full of resistance.