Leaving the Table (Danish: Man rejser sig fra bordet), also known as Dinner Party at the Morescos' (Danish: Aftenselskab hos familien Moresco), is a 1906 oil-on-canvas group portrait painting by Laurits Tuxen depicting a dinner party in Danish businessman Jacob Heinrich Moresco's home north of Copenhagen. The painting was a gift to Moresco on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his firm. Many of the 45 people seen in the painting are well-known businessmen, politicians or other peers of the time.

Leaving the table
Danish: Man rejser sig fra bordet
ArtistLaurits Tuxen
Year1906 (1906)
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions142 cm × 212 cm (56 in × 83 in)

Background

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Moresco's country house Adelaide

On 16 April 1856, Jacob Heinrich Moresco opened a store with women's clothing and fashion accessories at Amagertorv 13. His firm would later develop into the first large-scale industrial manufacturer of women's clothing in Denmark. Moresco is one of the businessmen depicted on Peder Severin Krøyer's monumental 1895 group portrait painting From Copenhagen Stock Exchange in Børsen.[1]

Creation

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Leaving the Table was commissioned from Lauritz Tuxen as a gift to Moresco on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his company on 16 April 1906. It was painted on the basis of a black-and-white photograph taken at a dinner party some time before the anniversary. The dinner party took place in Moresco's home, Villa Adelaïde, at Ordrupvej 119, in Ordrup. The house was named after Moresco's mother. The property was acquired by Gentofte Municipality in 1943 and the building was subsequently demolished to make way for Ordrup Park.[2]

Provenance

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Moresco died in October 1906. just a few months after the anniversary.[1] The painting remained in the Moresco family for the next more than 70 years. On 23 April 1991, it was sold at a Bruun Rasmussen auction to Ole Abildgaard for DKK 480,000, then a price record for a Tuxen painting.[3] The Danish Commission of Export of Cultural Assets (Kulturværdiudvalget) had the same year issued an export ban under the Act on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark (No. 332 of 4 July 1876).[4] On 15 November 1995, it was sold at another auction, this time at Kunsthallen, for DKK 250.000.[4] The buyer was by Kunstnyt.dk reported to be the Kolding-based businessman Christian Houe.[3] He later moved it out of the country illegally and in 1997 sold it at a Sotheby's New York auction for US§ 84,000 (the equivalent of DKK 548,000).[3] The buyer was New York-based art collector John Oden. On 22 October 2010, TV2 broadcastet a programme about the faith of the painting. In an interview with Oden, he stated that he had no intention of parting with the painting.[4]

People

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People in the painting
  1. Valdemar Oldenburg (1834–1918), politician
  2. Hans Nicolai Hansen (1835–1910), politician
  3. Carl Goos (1935–1917), politician
  4. J. L. R. Kofoed
  5. H, von Boalitz, military officer
  6. Sophus Bauditz (1850–1915), author[5]
  7. Hans Mathias Fenger (1850–103+), provost
  8. William Bloch, stage director[6]
  9. F. A. Lorck, etatsråd
  10. Harald Dietrichson (1851–1930), lawyer
  11. Emil Vett (1843–1911), businessman
  12. Peter Adler Alberti (1851–1932), politician
  13. Christian Hasselbalch (1851–1925), businessman[7]
  14. Else Moresco
  15. Friedrich Løvenfeldt (1841–1913), military officer and chamberlain
  16. Vilhelm Wedell-Wedellsborg (1827–1914), military officer and chamberlain
  17. Charles Shaw, lawyer
  18. Theodor Neubert (1855–1911), businessman
  19. Emmerich Müller, CEO
  20. Emil Hjort, businessman
  21. Carl Michelsen, Court Jeweller
  22. Johannes Werner, lawyer
  23. Carl Moresco (1863–1940), CEO
  24. Ada Moresco
  25. H. P. Holst Hansen, singer
  26. M. Lauritzen, medical doctor
  27. N. Schnitger, dispatcher
  28. Johannes Birch, dispatcher
  29. Jacob Heinrich Moresco (1829–1906), businessman
  30. Theodor Freiesleben (1825–1906), military officer
  31. Niels Peder Jensen (1830–1918), military officer
  32. Marie Warelius
  33. P. V. Petersen
  34. Andreas Kjelsen, dispatcher
  35. F. Moresco
  36. Wilhelm Lauritzen, medical doctor
  37. Benny Henriques (1829–1912), bookdealer
  38. Fritz Hegermann-Lindencrone, military officer
  39. Moses Melchior, businessman
  40. Johan Jacob Moresco (1900–1981), Carl Moresco's son
  41. Ruth Moresco
  42. V. F. Kofoed, counter admiral
  43. Holger Petersen (1843–1917), businessman[8]
  44. Enevold Sørensen, journalist and politician[9]
  45. Edgar Collin, journalist[10]
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Tuxen painted a number of portrait studies of some of the people seen in the picture, including Enevold Sørensen (Kolding City Hall, acquired in 1920), Charles Shaw (Skagens Museum), Morescos, Marie Warelius, Emil Hjort, Johannes Werner and N. P.Jensen.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Jacob Heinrich" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  2. ^ "MG-65 Jacob Heinrich Moresco". beitolam.com (in Danish). Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Madsen, Preben Juul. "Sandheden om et ulovligt udført maleri af Laurits Tuxen" (PDF). kunstnyt.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Ulovligt udført". kulturnyt.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Sophus Bauditz" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  6. ^ "William Bloch". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Chr. Hasselbalch" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Holger Petersen" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Enevold Sørensen" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Edgar Collin" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
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