Taarnet (Danish: The Tower) was a monthly art and literary magazine founded and edited by Johannes Jørgensen in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was subtitled as Illustreret Tidsskrift for Kunst og Litteratur (Danish: Illustrated Magazine for Arts and Literature). The magazine was one of the early avant-garde publications[1] and the major representative of symbolism in Denmark. It existed for one year between 1893 and 1894.[2][3]

Taarnet
EditorJohannes Jørgensen
Categories
  • Literary magazine
  • Arts magazine
FrequencyMonthly
FounderJohannes Jørgensen
Founded1893
First issueOctober 1893
Final issueSeptember 1894
CountryDenmark
Based inCopenhagen
LanguageDanish

History and profile edit

 
Johannes Jørgensen, founder and editor of Taarnet

Taarnet was founded in 1893 by Johannes Jørgensen who formulated his symbolism approach in the publication.[4][5] The title of the magazine was a reference to both the poetic meaning of tower and the tower in Jørgensen's apartment in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen.[5] In his autobiography Jørgensen stated that Taarnet was established in the name of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine.[6] The first issue appeared in October 1893.[4] The magazine which was published on a monthly basis featured articles on Danish and international symbolist literature and visual art.[4][6]

As stated above Jørgensen described his own version of symbolism in Taarnet and argued "all genuine art is and becomes symbolic."[5] Furthermore, in the magazine Jørgensen replied the critics of his manifesto that he had published in another Danish magazine, Tilskueren.[7] The mission of Taarnet was to provide a connection between French and Danish symbolism, and nearly twenty percent of all articles published in the magazine were translations of French symbolists.[6]

In his articles Jørgensen also supported more mystical and spiritual ways of life.[8] Another notable contributor of the monthly was Sophus Claussen.[5] Danish writer Viggo Stuckenberg published the first scene of his play Den vilde Jæger in the magazine[1] which also featured early drawings by Svend Hammershøi.[5] Other major Danish writers associated with the magazine were Sophus Michaëlis, Mogens Ballin and Jens Ferdinand Willumsen.[1]

Taarnet folded in September 1894 after producing nine issues.[4][6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Marie-Louise Zervides (2020). "Nielsen, Saul and David and the Symbolist Movement". Carl Nielsen Studies. VI: 97, 101.
  2. ^ Jason Harding (November 2015). "European Avant-Garde Coteries and the Modernist Magazine" (PDF). Modernism/modernity. 22 (4): 816. doi:10.1353/mod.2015.0063. S2CID 147574666.
  3. ^ Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel (Spring 2015). "Provincializing Paris. The Center-Periphery Narrative of Modern Art in Light of Quantitative and Transnational Approaches". Artl@s Bulletin. 4 (1): 47.
  4. ^ a b c d "Johannes Jørgensen og Taarnet" (in Danish). Kunsten. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e Daniel M. Grimley (2010). Carl Nielsen and the Idea of Modernism. Woodbridge: Boydell. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-84383-581-3.
  6. ^ a b c d David J. Mickelsen (December 1977). "Beating Frenchmen into Swords: Symbolism in Denmark". Comparative Literature Studies. 14 (4): 328–345. JSTOR 40245910.
  7. ^ Lief Sjőberg (1984). "Symbolism in Denmark". In Anna Balakian (ed.). The Symbolist Movement in the Literature of European Languages. Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 589. doi:10.1075/chlel.ii. ISBN 978-90-272-8642-0.
  8. ^ Margaretta Jolly, ed. (2013). Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms. London; Chicago: Routledge. p. 507. ISBN 978-1-136-78744-7.