Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danish

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 sc ...

and professor at 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 ...

. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. Utzon-Frank was son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon. Anna Cathrine was sister to the grandfather of

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

-winning architect

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. In 1957, he won an international design competition for his design of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Utzon's revised design, which he completed in 1961, was the b ...

Career

Einar Utzon-Frank was born in the

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

district of

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 ...

in 1888, the son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon. Utzon-Frank began his artistic life as a painter but changed direction to become a sculptor. He was admitted to the

in 1906, where he became a close friend of the somewhat older Kai Nielsen. However, the two friends followed diverging paths through their creative careers, with Nielsen following a lush modernism in contrast to Utzon-Frank's clear, cool classical style which follows the tradition of

Bertel Thorvaldsen Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...

. From 1912 to 1913 Utzen-Frank travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Rome,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BCE that ...

, Paris and later Italy, Greece and England, and many of the classical influences from his travels are evident in his work. At the end of the 1930s he was commissioned to recast the

Equestrian statue of Christian V The equestrian statue of Christian V, located in the centre of Kongens Nytorv, is the oldest of five equestrian statues of Danish monarchs in Copenhagen, Denmark. The equestrian statue was created by the French sculptor Abraham-César Lamoureux, i ...

— originally erected between 1687 and 1688 on

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv (literal translation, lit. "The King's New Square") is a town square, public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the Pedestrian zone, pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was l ...

and made from gilded

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

Abraham-César Lamoureux Abraham César Lamoureux (c. 1640, Metz – c. April 1692, Copenhagen) was a French sculptor and stonemason who worked in Sweden and in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for creating the first equestrian statue in northern Europe. Life ...

— in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, which he did between 1939 and 1942. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

Academia

In 1918 at the age of 30, Utzon-Frank was appointed a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen, a post in which he remained until 1955. In his teaching, he laid emphasis on solid craftsmanship skills. He was a teacher and educator of great importance and came to dominate several generations of sculptors, including Henry Heerup, Sigrid Lütken, Janus Kamban, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, Gestur Þorgrímsson and Douglas Robertson Bisset.

Private life

Utzon-Frank married Gerda Harriet Margrete Christensen on 4 December 1908. Their daughter Grete Utzon Frank was born on 8 February 1909 in

, and she married painter and author William Flemming Bergsøe on 21 March 1930.

Works

His best-known works include: * ''Knælende Aphrodite'' (1916) * ''Atalante'' (1919), depicting the woman

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

from Greek mythology. This bronze statue is placed in the central park of '' Rådhusparken'' in Aarhus. * ''Slangedræber'', the Police Headquarters, Copenhagen (1924) * ''Beatrice as poesiens genius'', Dantesøjlen, Copenhagen (1924), sold in 2003 for 28,000 DKK * Sarkofag for Frederik VIII,

Roskilde Cathedral Roskilde Cathedral (), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark. The cathedral is one of the most important churches in D ...

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

, Denmark * Hamlet Memorial Grave, Marienlyst Park,

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

(1926) * Erik of Pomerania (1926) * ''Youth'', Enghaveparken, Copenhagen (1933) * '' The Weather Girls'', Richshuset, Copenhagen (1936) * ''Knud the Holy'',

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

, Denmark (1944) * ''

Christian X Christian X (; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Ice ...

'' (

Equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

), Sankt Annæ Plads, Copenhagen (1954) * ''Thorvaldsen'' (1953)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utzon-Frank, Einar 1888 births 1955 deaths 20th-century Danish sculptors 20th-century medallists Danish medallists Artists from Frederiksberg Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Directors of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics Danish male sculptors Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen 20th-century Danish male artists

Career

Academia

Private life

Works

See also

References