Poul Anker Bech - On the road

Poul Anker Bech’s (1942-2009) paintings are full of roads. Asphalt roads, gravel roads, country roads, road tracks, footprints. People and animals moving in and out of the landscape. On foot, by car, train, ferry or plane. Now, for the first time, Vendsyssel Museum of Art presents the different paths – or roads, if you will – in Poul Anker Bech’s paintings, featuring works borrowed from institutions and private collectors across the country.

The road is an inevitable part of the landscape and of everyday life. Its function is straightforward. It takes us from A to B and enables us to move. The Danish road network is approximately 75,000 km long. It connects city and country, near and far, you and me – and ties Denmark (and the world) together. The road is a prerequisite for a well-functioning society and a human intervention that cuts through the landscape, fragmenting nature.

But the road also has a figurative meaning that goes beyond the tangible and towards the existential, which concerns human life and development – to be on one’s way, as a human being, both physically and mentally.

All these layers of meaning are united in Poul Anker Bech’s work with the road as a motif. Its relationship to and significance for the landscape and man continued to fascinate and interest the artist throughout his life.

The exhibition and publication are supported by:
15. Juni Fonden, the Augustinus Foundation, Knud Højgaards Fond and Lemvigh-Müller Fonden.