Sepulchral Monument to the Artist's Mother, Signe Tegner

With her back against the world, the woman is gradually disappearing into the rock. It is a monument to the artist’s mother, Signe Tegner, who died at the age of 52 in 1899. But instead of an aging woman, we encounter an ambiguous portrayal of a younger woman whose body we can desire. The fabric and rocks cling closely to the body and caress the woman. A sensual and life-affirming interpretation of grief. Tegner was a great admirer of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), and his work depicting the transformation of the female body from stone to erotic nature is sensed as inspiration. The sculpture is the original model that Tegner exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. The allegorical representation of death attracted attention and was rewarded with a bronze medal. The Brewer Jacobsen Commissioned a marble version for the Glyptotek.