Plaster, 1915. Size 165 x 110 x 98,5 cm. Inv. no. 155. Donated to the museum by Niels Hansen Jacobsen.

Exhibitions

The Free Exhibition, 1915.

The brave tailor

The literary model for this sculpture is the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale The Brave Tailor. The tailor went off to seek his fortune and met a giant who challenged him to a test of strength. At the bottom of the sculpture sits the little tailor on a knoll, with the giant towering above him. The giant is holding a boulder in his hands and is clearly squeezing it with all his might. The tailor is looking up attentively to see if water is coming out of the stone. Then he tricks the stupid giant into believing that he is even stronger by easily squeezing water from a "stone" - a cheese he had in his pocket.

A fountain sculpture

When the sculpture was exhibited in 1915, the catalogue noted that it was conceived as a group for a fountain. The idea was probably for the water to fall, drop by drop, from the stone between the giant's hands down onto the bronze base.

Asger Jorn on the sculpture

Asger Jorn, who took a lively interest in Niels Hansen Jacobsen's work, wrote a little article about "The Giant Squeezing Water from a Stone" in the journal Kunst in September 1963. He viewed the little tailor who defeats the giant as a metaphor of man's victory over, and exploitation of, nuclear power's enormous energy. The article contains the following warning:

There is no naive triumphant rejoicing here. The little man knows what he is up against. He is politely interested in the troll's fruitless efforts, and is immensely amused despite the fact that he risks having the boulder come crashing down on his head if the troll gets impatient and wants to give vent to his rage.

Jorn wanted to have the sculpture erected at the Risø Atomic Research Station, as a warning against the unreflecting exploitation of nuclear power.