Svend Wiig Hansen (20 December 1922 – 15 March 1997) was a Danish sculptor and painter.
Biography
Wiig Hansen was born in
Møgeltønder
Møgeltønder () is a small town in Denmark, located in Møgeltønder Parish and Tønder Municipality in the southwestern corner of the Danish peninsula of Jutland 5 kilometres north of the Danish-German border and 4 kilometres west of Tønde ...
. He was initially undecided about his career, working as a circus clown and a singer until a job requiring his help in the completion of climbing angels convinced him he should become a sculptor. After studying at the
Danish Academy
Danish Academy is an independent organisation founded in 1960 by a circle of Danish intellectuals "to promote Danish esprit and language, especially within the field of literature". It has up to 20 members, currently 18, and is based at Rungstedlu ...
under
Johannes Bjerg
Johannes Clausen Bjerg (26 January 1886 – 17 February 1955) was a Danish sculptor who worked primarily in the El Greco-style.
Early life
Born in Ødis near Kolding, Bjerg attended the Latin School in Kolding before serving an apprenticeship ...
and
Einar Utzon-Frank
Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danish sculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. ...
(1946–1950), his early sculptures included his monumental burnt clay ''Torso'' (1951) inspired by
Aristide Maillol
Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...
and his cement ''Moder Jord'' (Mother Earth, 1953) influenced in part by precolumbian sculpture. The gigantic group sculpture of ''Mennesket ved havet'' (
Men at Sea
''Men at Sea'' or ''Man meets the sea'' (Danish: ''Mennesket ved Havet'') is a 9-metre (30 feet) tall white monument of four seated males, located west of Esbjerg next to Sædding Beach on the southwest coast of Denmark. Located opposite the Fis ...
, (1994) near
Esbjerg
Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)
is inspired by
Cycladic art
The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from c. 3300 to 1100 BCE. Along with the Minoan civilization and Mycenaean Greece, the Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures. Cycladic art therefo ...
and the figures on
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
. ''Slægt løfter slægt'' (1997), which was installed for a period on
Gammel Strand
Gammel Strand (modern Danish for "old beach"; originally meant "the old shoreline", i.e. prior to land reclamations) is a street and public square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. On the south side it borders on the narrow Slotsholmens Canal whil ...
in Copenhagen, depicts a naked couple bearing a naked woman."Svend Wiig Hansen" ''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
His recognition as a painter began in 1955 with ''De søgende''. His expression is characterized by stark colouring in his depiction of the human body, often set in a desolate landscape. Among his most important works are ''Menneskeridt'' (1959), the series ''Mennesker i forvandling'' (People in Transformation, 1963) and ''Jorden græder'' (The Earth Weeps, 1981). His work as a decorator can be seen in Kastrup Church (1978), the central hospital in
Herning
Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)Royal Theatre with his aluminium ''Himmelrejsen'' (Heavenly Journey, 1989).Bent Irve, "Svend Wiig Hansen" ''Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 3 June 2012. He died in
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...
, aged 74.
Awards
Wiig Hansen received the Swedish
Prince Eugen Medal
The Prince Eugen Medal ( sv, Prins Eugen-medaljen) is a medal conferred by the King of Sweden for "outstanding artistic achievement".
The medal was established in 1945 by the then King of Sweden, Gustaf V, in connection with the eightieth birthd ...
in 1976 and was awarded both the
Eckersberg Medal
The Eckersberg Medal (originally the ''Akademiets Aarsmedaille'' or Annual Academy Medal) is an annual award of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of Danish painting.
The Ec ...
and the
Thorvaldsen Medal
The Thorvaldsen Medal (Danish: Thorvaldsens Medalje, Thorvaldsen Medaillen) is awarded annually with few exceptions to a varying number of recipients by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and is its highest distinction within the visual arts. It ...