Axel Peder Jensen (28 September 1885 – 12 June 1972) was a Danish painter who is remembered above all for his landscapes which added new subjects and stronger colouring to earlier works by the

Funen Painters The Funen Painters or ''Fynboerne'' were a loose group of Danish artists who formed an art colony on the island of Funen at the very beginning of the 20th century. They were strongly influenced by Kristian Zahrtmann who taught at the Artists Stu ...

."Axel P. Jensen"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

Early life

The son of a farmer, he was born in

Kerteminde Kerteminde (nickname: ''Min Amandas by'', i.e. ''My Amanda's town''), is a town in central Denmark, located in Kerteminde Municipality on the island of Funen. The town has a population of 6,128 (1 January 2025).

on the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. After training as a house painter (1900–1904), he attended the Technical School in Aalborg (1903–1907) before studying art at

Kristian Zahrtmann Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, (31 March 1843 – 22 June 1917) was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Philipsen, ...

's Kunstnernes Studieskoler in Copenhagen (1907–1908). From 1908 to 1910, he was a student with

Johan Rohde Johan Gudmann Rohde (1 November 1856 – 18 February 1935) was a Danish painter, lithographer and designer. He was the principal founder of Den Frie Udstilling, established in 1891 to allow artists to exhibit works which did not fall within the A ...

. He travelled to Paris in 1911 with

William Scharff Niels William Scharff (30 October 1886 – 20 September 1959) was a Danish painter, one of the leading proponents of Cubism in Denmark. Early life After training as a painter at Copenhagen's Technical School, Scharff attended Kristian Zahrtmann ...

and

Olaf Rude Olaf Rude (26 April 1886 – 17 June 1957) was a Danish painter. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1953 to 1956. He is remembered in particular for his paintings of oak trees at Skejten on Lolland, two of which can be se ...

.Inge Mørch Jensen, "Axel P. Jensen"
''Kunstindeks Danmark & Wilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

Career

As a pupil of Zahrtmann and a friend of Olaf Rude,

Jais Nielsen Johannes Knud Ove Jais-Nielsen (23 April 1885 – 8 November 1961) was a Danish people, Danish painter, designer and ceramist, best known for the religious figure groups that he designed for the Royal Copenhagen pottery. Biography Nielsen was bor ...

and

, he was one of a small group of Danish modernists who exhibited with

De Tretten De Tretten (The Group of Thirteen), also De Tretten Kunstnere (The Thirteen Artists), was a grouping of young Danish artists who arranged their own exhibitions in Copenhagen from 1909 to 1912 in order to display works which would not have been accep ...

and later at the

Grønningen Grønningen is a Danish artists cooperative whose members arrange exhibitions and similar events. Founded in 1915, it is one of the oldest and most important groupings of its kind in Denmark and currently has 54 members. It is named after the str ...

. Despite numerous portraits in his early years, he was primarily a landscape painter, deeply attached to the countryside where he spent most of his life. He had an acute sense of the changing seasons, the wind and the weather. He spent most of his time in Blokhus in

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island which also comprises the areas Hanherred and Thy. Vendsy ...

in the north of

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 ...

, painting fields, marshes and sand dunes, sometimes with a few figures and perhaps houses, trees or telephone poles to enhance the composition. Like

Fritz Syberg Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Syberg, generally known as Fritz Syberg, (28 July 1862, Fåborg – 20 December 1939, Kerteminde) was a Danish painter and illustrator, one of the or Funen Painters (''Fynboerne'') living and working on the ...

before him, he was one of the few Danes who not only painted summer scenes but also the ploughed fields of the autumn and the cold and wet of winter. Any sense of sadness was however usually dispelled by the bright, colourful texture of his works. In addition to his paintings, Jensen also carried out a series of decorative assignments at the Aarhus Central Post Office (1931) with scenes of the harbour and Jutland's countryside, the reception hall in Frederiksberg Town Hall (1950), and the

Aalborghallen Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center (formally and unofficially Aalborghallen) is an entertainment and convention venue located in Aalborg, Denmark, which is used for exhibitions and concerts. The facility was inaugurated in 1953 and has a capacity of 3, ...

indoor arena (1953). He also designed postage stamps including a series celebrating the postal authority's 300th anniversary (1924), an airmail series (1925) and a ''karavel'' series (1925)."Jensen, Axel Peder"
''Weilbachs Kunsterleksikon'' J. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

Style

Despite Zahrtmann's influence, Jensen had a much freer approach to colour. His colourful brushstrokes, even in the shady areas of his paintings, are close to

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. Unlike Rude and Scharff, he was not attracted to

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. Inspired by

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

, he later developed tightly knit, rhythmical brushstrokes, producing a distinctly decorative effect. This can be seen above all in his work from 1916 to 1921."Axel P. Jensen"
''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

Notable works

*Tørvegravere i Store Vildmose, 1908 *Graa Vinterdag i Vendsyssel, 1910 *Moder og Barn *Pariserinde med Hunde, 1911 *Gammel Port ved Meudon *Italiensk Foraar, San Gimignano, 1921 *Vestjysk Landskab *Sigurd Næsgaard, 1924 *Uvejr over Klitten, 1928 *Pirupshvarre, 1928 *Udkanten af en Klitplantage, 1929 *Klitlandskab med forblæste Graner, 1931 *Vinterdag, Vestrupgaard, 1937 *Vinter ved Vestrupgaard, 1942 *Landskab med Skyer, Store Vildmose, 1957 *Landskab med blomstrende Frugttræer, 1958 *Foraarsdag, Virum

Awards

Jensen was awarded 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 ...

in 1926 and the

Thorvaldsen Medal The Thorvaldsen Medal (Danish language, 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 th ...

in 1946.

References

Literature

*Sine Kildeberg (ed., 2009), ''Axel P. Jensen: farveklang og penselkraft'', Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum. 133 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Axel P. 20th-century Danish painters 1885 births 1972 deaths Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal People from Kerteminde