Achton Friis (5 September 1871 – 17 December 1939) was a Danish] illustrator, painter and writer. He participated in the
Denmark expedition
The Denmark expedition (), also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast and the Danmark Expedition after the ship's name, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland in 1906–1908.
Despite being overshadowed by the dea ...
to Northeast Greenland in 1906–1908, creating a large number of works in the process, both landscape paintings and portraits, as well as a written account which was published in 1909. He later published several comprehensive and richly illustrated works with descriptions of the nature and cultural history of different parts of Denmark. In addition, he designed decorative works for the
Bing & Grøndahl
Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the t ...
porcelain manufacturer.
He is buried at
Vestre Cemetery
Vestre Cemetery (, meaning "Western Cemetery") is located in a large park setting in the Kongens Enghave district of Copenhagen, Denmark. With its 54 hectares it is the largest cemetery in Denmark.
The cemetery is landscaped and serves as an imp ...
in Copenhagen. His son, Claus Achton Friis, was also a painter and graphic artist.
Early life and education
Friis was born in Trustrup on the
Djursland
Djursland () is a 1,417 km2 hilly lowland peninsula in Denmark at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, between Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe. Djursland protrudes into the Kattegat sea, as part of the larger peninsula of Jutland, which its ...
peninsula in 1871. He attended the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts () has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark.
History
The Royal Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture in Cope ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
from 1895 to 1899.
He learned etching techniques from Carl Locher in 1900–01.
Danish Expedition to Greenland, 1906-08
In 1906–08, Friis participated in the Denmark expedition to northeastern
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
. His works included oil paintings of landscapes as well as numerous portraits.
Friis' works from the expedition included landscape paintings as well as numerous portraits, both of expedition members and local
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
. Another artist,
Aage Bertelsen
Aage Bertelsen (28 September 1873 – 9 September 1945) was a Danish painter. He was a member of the Denmark Expedition to North-East Greenland. He has also worked for Kähler Keramik in Næstved.
Biography Early life and career
Aage Bertels ...
, was also a member of the expedition. Friis' and Bertelsen's works from the Denmark expedition were featured in an exhibition at the
Rudolph Tegner Museum
The Rudolph Tegner Museum is set in the middle of a protected area just south of Dronningmølle on Zealand's north coast, some 50 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The museum is dedicated to the oeuvre of the sculptor Rudolph Tegner (1873–1 ...
in 2011.
Friis also wrote the official travel account from the expedition, ''Danmark Ekspeditionen til Grønlands Nordøstkyst'', which was published in 1909 and reissued in 2005. Friis and
Aage Bertelsen
Aage Bertelsen (28 September 1873 – 9 September 1945) was a Danish painter. He was a member of the Denmark Expedition to North-East Greenland. He has also worked for Kähler Keramik in Næstved.
Biography Early life and career
Aage Bertels ...
's works from the Denmark expedition to Greenland's North-East Coast was featured in an exhibition at the
Rudolph Tegner Museum
The Rudolph Tegner Museum is set in the middle of a protected area just south of Dronningmølle on Zealand's north coast, some 50 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The museum is dedicated to the oeuvre of the sculptor Rudolph Tegner (1873–1 ...
in 2011.
A comprehensive extract from Friis' and Bertelsen's diaries was published in 2013.
''Land of the Danes''
In the 1920s and 1930s, Friis published three comprehensive works with descriptions of the nature and cultural history of different parts of Denmark. They are collectively referred to as ''De Danskes Land'' (''Land of the Danes'').
The 1200-page ''De Danskes Øer. Ekspeditionen til de 132 øer'' ("The Danes' Islands: Expedition to the 132 Islands") was published in three volumes between 1926 and 1928. In 1932–33, it was followed by the two-volume ''De Jyders Land'' ("Land of the Jutlanders") about
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
. In 1936–1937, Friis published ''Danmarks Store Øer'' ("Denmark's Large Islands") in two volumes.
All three works contain illustrations by Friis as well as by
Johannes Larsen
Johannes Larsen (27 December 1867 – 20 December 1961) was a Danish nature painter.
Biography
Larsen was born in Kerteminde on Funen, Denmark. He was the son of Jeppe Andreas L. and Vilhelmine Christine Bless. His father was a merchant.
Lar ...
. Andreas Friis and Knud Kyhn also contributed illustrations to ''Danmarks Store Øer''.
Work for Bing & Grøndahl

He designed ceramics and porcelain for
Bing & Grøndahl
Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the t ...
. His designs included a number of their
Christmas plates in the 1920s and 1930s.
Music career
Friis also played the mandolin and mandola. His threesome, the Achton Friis Trio, was completed by Johan Tolstrup on mandolin and by Frederik Birket-Smith on
theorbo
The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck that houses the second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box with a flat top, typically with one or three sound holes decorated with rose ...
.
Honours
Friis received the
Medal of Merit. The
Achton Friis Islands
The Achton Friis Islands () are a group of uninhabited islands in the Greenland Sea, Greenland.
They were named by the Denmark expedition in honour of illustrator Achton Friis, one of the expedition members.
Geography
The Achton Friis Islands ...
, as well as
Cape Achton Friis, a headland in
Queen Louise Land
Queen Louise Land (; ) is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederik VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.
The highest point of Queen Louise Land i ...
, were named in his honour.
Place names, NE Greenland - GEUS
/ref>
References
External links
Achton Friis
at Kunstindeks Danmark
''Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon'' (English: ''Weilbach's Biographical Dictionary of Artists'') is a Danish biographical dictionary of artists and architects. The current edition, which is also freely accessible online, contains the biographies of some ...
Achton Friis
at Artnet
Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friis, Achton
1871 births
1939 deaths
20th-century Danish painters
20th-century Danish illustrators
Danish male writers
People from Norddjurs Municipality
Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen