Plaster, 1907. Size 139 x 108 x 81 cm. Inv. no. 150. Donated to the museum by Niels Hansen Jacobsen.

Exhibitions

The Free Sculptors' Exhibition, 1908.
National Exhibition, Århus, 1909.

Niels Hansen Jacobsen on the sculpture

In a letter to his friend Jeppe Aakjær, Niels Hansen Jacobsen wrote in 1907:

I have pulled myself together and modeled a group, a mother with her two children. I call it "The Desert," but one could also call it "In the Desert of the City." I believe I have succeeded in making it completely good, serious, and calm, but it is still somewhat difficult to evaluate one's work, especially when one has just finished it.

The sculpture's title

The sculpture was first exhibited under the name "The Desert," but later Niels Hansen Jacobsen himself began to use the more complete title "In the Desert of the City."

The city as a desert

The concept of the city as a desert, an infertile and barren place, emerged in keeping with industrialism and its rapidly growing cities. The sculpture takes a stand on a social problem that was urgent at the time. It is a social realistic work in a sense, but the figures' nakedness is a symbolic feature that expands the problem from an individual to a universal one. Niels Hansen Jacobsen's socially critical involvement In sculptures such as "In the Desert of the City," "Freedom at the End of the Century" , and "Militarism" , we can sense Niels Hansen Jacobsen's political and social commitment - an attitude that he shared with the circle of artists who met in Paris. The main figure in the group was Johannes Holbek (1872-1903), known for his stinging satirical drawings of the society of the day, women's status, and the double standards of those in power. Johannes Holbek is represented at the museum with a single work, "King Lear and the Fool on the Heath" (1902). Kai Nielsen also created socially committed sculptures such as "Work," "The Old Man," and "Blind Peasant Girl."