A 72 metre statue by the celebrated Danish artist Robert Jacobsen (1912-1993) might soon grace the harbour as a new tourist attraction for the city.
Named ‘Store Robert’ (big Robert), the statue exists only in a smaller version at present, created 20 years ago by the master sculpture in the hope it would be placed beside Langelinie at the harbour entrance.
“It’s a cross between colossal and monumental. It expresses the abstract world we live in and is a vision of our technological age,” he was quoted as saying.
The project has been resurrected and is currently being investigated for feasibility. It’s being pushed forward by the City Council Society for the Creation of Store Robert, which includes business interests who will come up with the 200 million kroner for the project.
But there has been some opposition to the mammoth project. Kristine Jensen from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts is sceptical of the need for this sculpture, especially being viewed in the same way as the Statue of Liberty in New York.
She said that the Statue of Liberty symbolised a gateway of freedom in the US, but it was hard to see what the ‘Store Robert’ sculpture symbolises.