Edvard Eriksen (10 March 1876 – 12 January 1959) was a Danish–

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

Biography

He apprenticed as a wood carver, after which he trained at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) 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 Dan ...

between 1894 and 1899. Eriksen's most famous work is the bronze statue of '' The Little Mermaid'' (''Det Lille Havfrue''). In 1909, Jacob Christian Jacobsen, founder of Carlsberg brewery, commissioned the work of art as a gift to the City of Copenhagen. It was set up on 23 August 1913 by the shore of the promenade Langelinie in the harbor of the old port district of Nyhavn. Two different women served as models to create the statue. Eriksen used his wife,

Eline Eriksen Eline Eriksen (1881 – 1963), born Eline Vilhelmine Møller, was the wife (since 1900) of Edvard Eriksen and the model for the body of the ''Little Mermaid'' statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. The face of that statue was modeled after ballerina E ...

, as the model for the statue's body and actress Ellen Price as the model for the mermaid's head. Among his other works are the allegorical statues ''Grief, Memory and Love'' made of marble in 1908 for the sarcophagus of Christian IX and Queen Louise in

Roskilde Cathedral , image = Roskilde Cathedral aerial.jpg , caption = View from the north-west , coordinates = , location = Roskilde , country = Denmark , denomination = Church of Denmark , previous denomination = Catholic Church , website = , founded da ...

. Edvard Eriksen taught at the Royal Danish Academy between 1908–1919 and was a conservator at Thorvaldsen Museum 1930–1953. He travelled around Italy with his family learning to carve in marble and was made an honorary professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1932.

Personal life

After marrying Eline Vilhelmine Møller (1881-1963) in 1900, they had five children. Eriksen died at Copenhagen and was buried at Vestre Cemetery.

References

External links

* * 1876 births 1959 deaths Artists from Copenhagen Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts faculty 20th-century Danish sculptors Male sculptors Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Danish people of Icelandic descent Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists {{Denmark-sculptor-stub