The Spirit of Vitalism: Health, Beauty and Strength in Danish Art, 1890-1940

This richly illustrated book outlines the strong Vitalistic movement in Denmark during the period 1890-1940. This movement emerged as a response to the rationalism and one-sided intellectualism of a rigid, bourgeois, or decadent culture of the 19th century. It constituted a number of cultural currents that were manifested in philosophy, art, and everyday life, with an emphasis on the energy of youth, the dynamic personality, and the potential of the body. Viewed in the wider perspective, the aim of Vitalism's cult of the body was a revitalization that was to benefit not only the individual human being, but the whole of culture. Although the Vitalistic themes emanated from modern life, they also drew artistic sustenance from Nordic mythology and Greek antiquity, which served as the most important ideals in the modern pursuit of both physical and spiritual beauty. Additionally, the book highlights the prevalence of the interest in health and exercise and an increased attentiveness to hygiene and nutrition in the culture of everyday Danish life at the time. The contributions examine a number of art-historical perspectives, ranging from sports and dance motifs, and the cultivation of the healthy, beautiful, and strong body, to the vibrant landscapes framing ideal outdoor life for men, women, and children. Vitalism's prismatic nature is traced across a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, music, dance, literature, and architecture. The book's perspective is widened to include the discussion of international contributors to the Vitalistic movement and its different manifestations, centering on such figures as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson, Charles Darwin, Richard Wagner, and Isadora Duncan, to name but a few. The Spirit of Vitalism contains numerous illustrated works by representative Danish artists, including J.F. Willumsen, Jean Gauguin, Kai Nielsen, and Rudolph Tegner.