The Men of Industry

Men of Industry is a group portrait featuring 53 leading representatives of the technical sciences in Denmark during the second half of the 19th century, seen at a fictional gathering at Østerbro Power Station in Copenhagen commissioned by Gustav Adolph Hagemann. The idea for the painting was conceived by Hagemann in 1881 while he was entertaining C. F. Tietgen who was posing for Peder Severin Krøyers portrait of him. Hagemann presented the idea of four monumental group portrait paintings for the newly refurbished Great Hall in Børsen featuring leading representatives of the trade, industry agriculture and shipping sectors in Denmark. Only the first of the four painting, From Copenhagen Stock Exchange (1895), was realized. The idea for Men of Industry was revived in 1902 but now as a private commission by Hagemann, paid for out of his own pocket, for his home in Bredgade.