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

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

's selection criteria."Om Den Frie"
, Den Frie Udstilling. Retrieved 30 January 2013.

Early life

Rhode was born on 1 November 1856 in

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Kunstnernes Studieskole (Students' School of Study) under Laurits Tuxen and P.S.Krøyer (1883–1886).

Career

Rohde first exhibited at Charlottenborg's spring exhibition in 1888 with an everyday scene: ''En Beværtningshave i Udkanten af København'' (A Tavern Garden on the Outskirts of Copenhagen). When his paintings were later refused by the Academy, together with those of

Vilhelm Hammershøi Vilhelm Hammershøi (), often anglicised as Vilhelm Hammershoi (15 May 186413 February 1916), was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, subdued portraits and interiors.Souren Melikian,Hammershoi's decade of brilliance, before banality set ...

, Fritz Syberg, Joakim Skovgaard and

Julius Paulsen Julius Paulsen (22 October 1860 in Odense – 17 February 1940 in Copenhagen) was a Danish painter. From 1879 to 1882 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he was later a professor. He had strong connections with several of th ...

, in 1888 he and Rasmus Christiansen arranged an exhibition of refused works in their studio. In 1890, with

J.F. Willumsen Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (7 September 1863 – 4 April 1958) was a Danish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, architect and photographer. He became associated with the movements of Symbolism and Expressionism. Biography J. F. Willumsen was bor ...

, Hammershøi, Harald and

Agnes Slott-Møller Agnes Slott-Møller, née Rambusch (10 June 1862, in Nyboder – 11 June 1937, in Løgismose, Assens Municipality), was a Danish Symbolist painter; influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. She is known for works inspired by Danish history and folklore ...

and

Christian Mourier-Petersen Christian Vilhelm Mourier-Petersen (26 November 1858 at Holbækgård, Randers – 19 May 1945 in Copenhagen) was a Danish painter. He was the son of a landowner A.T.H. Mourier-Petersen, graduated in 1878, studied medicine, graduated under Carl ...

, he established Den Frie Udstilling where he exhibited throughout his life."Johan Rohde"
''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Rohde travelled widely, not only exhibiting his works, but playing a key role for Danish art until 1914 by following news trends, making new contacts and writing carefully formulated articles in the Danish newspapers. He had eye for works of value, buying a painting by

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

in Paris in 1892 (now in the

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...

. He also arranged an exhibition of Van Gogh's works in Den Frie in 1893. His own works from the 1890s are influenced by

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

, especially his portraits."Johan Rohde"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 31 January 2013.

Design

Furniture and silver

Rohde also played an important part in the development of Danish craftsmanship with his high-quality silver designs (for

Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife g ...

as well as furniture in both classical and Japanese styles. Rohde found his way into the applied artys when he began designing furniture and silver for his own home. These were produced by some of the leading Danish workshops of his time. In 1906, he thus commissioned Georg Jensen to execute some silver based on jis own drawings. Impressed with what he saw, Jensen then commissioned Rohde to create some designs for his workshop. Rohde was initially also working with other silvermsiths until Jensen secured an exclusive contract with him him in 1914. Among his most significant designs for Georg Jensen are the Acorn (Konge, 1915) and Schroll (Sagam 1927) flatware patterns and the Cosmos yea and coffee service (1915). File:Johan Rohde - Chair for Dr. Alfred Pers.jpg, Chair designed by Rode in 1898 for Dr. Alfred Pers now on display in the Danish Design Museum File:Johan Rohde - chair.jpg, Chair designed by Rode on display in the Danish Design Museum.

Silver

Rhode's first silver designs were some spoons executed by Mogens Ballin in 1903. His first designs for

were created in 1906 and developed into a life-ling collaboration from 1908, although it was not contractually formalized until 1917. His work comprised cutlery and hollowware. It included the popular Acorn pattern for Georg Jensen. File:Georg Jensen - Acorn pattern tea ball.jpg, Georg Jensen - Acorn pattern tea ball. File:Bowl MET 22.163.1.jpg, Rhode desig. File:Coffee pot with Lid MET 1991.284.1ab-4.jpg, Coffee set by Rhode.

Printmaking

His 45 lithographs comprise portraits by J.F. Willumsen and Jan Verkade; as well as reproductions of Hammershøi's ''En Ung Pige der syer'', J.-F. Millet's ''Brændehuggeren og Døden'' and Joakim Skovgaard's ''Bethesda Dam''. He did not work with etchings until late in his life. 87 of his 97 etchings were created in the period 1932–34 He resided at

Nyhavn 22 Nyhavn 22 is an 18th-century building overlooking the Nyhavn Canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1949, it was acquired by neighboring Hotel Bethel and used for an extension of the hotel. In the middle of the 19th century, it was owned by t ...

(first floor) from 1888 until 1900. On 1 November 1900, he moved to a second-floor apartment at Silkegade 13- On 1 May 1908, he moved to an aoartment at Silkegade 13. On 1 May 1903 to 1 November 1904, he lived on the third floor of the

Zinn House The Zinn House ( da, Zinnske Gård), located at Kvæsthusgade 3, is a historic townhouse around the corner from the Nyhavn Canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It takes its name after the Johann Ludvig Zinn, Zinn family, a wealthy family of merch ...

( Kvæsthusgade 3). From 1 November 1904 to 1 November 1911, he then lived at Nybrogade 12. He then resided first at Åbenrå 31 (second floor, 1 November 1911 - 1 November 1913) and Ny Vestergade 13 (third floor, 1 November 1913 -1 May 1919) before moving to his last home at Norgesmindevej 16 ub

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

Personal life

Rhode married on 18 October 1903 in St. Andrew's Church in Copenhagen cand.mag. Asa Zøylner (1874-1960), daughter of businessman Johannes Henrik Emil Zøylner. (1838–1921) and Harriet Clausen (1842–1922). He was the father of the League of Nationions official

Gabriele Rohde Gabriele Rohde (1904–1946) was a Danish League of Nations official in the 1930s and, during the Second World War, a member of the Danish Council (''Det danske Råd'') in London. She provided strong support in particular for Danish seafarers, cr ...

and civil servant and director of the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

Henning Rhode Henning is a surname, also used as a given name, with origins in East Prussia (now part of Germany). Henning may also refer to: People with Henning as a surname * A. J. Henning (born 2002), American football player * Andrew Henning (1863� ...

Awards

In 1934, Rohde was awarded 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. I ...

Selected paintings

File:Johan Rohde - Udenfor Girgenti med henblik af templerne.jpg, View Outside

Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...

File:Johan Rohde - Den store Kanal i Venedig.jpg, The Grand Canal in Venice File:Johan Rohde - Unge nøgne bueskytter.jpg, Naked Young Archers File:Pontoppidan, Henrik (av Johan Rohde).jpg,

Henrik Pontoppidan Henrik Pontoppidan (24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and shor ...

File:Johan Rohde - Fin de soirée sur le môle à Hoorn.jpg, Johan Rohde: ''Quiet Evening in the Harbor at Hoorn'', 1893.

The Hirschsprung Collection The Hirschsprung Collection ( Danish: Den Hirschsprungske Samling) is an art museum located on Stockholmsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large coll ...

, Copenhagen File:Johan Rohde- Selvportræt, ca.1890.tif, Johan Rohde: ''Selv-portrait'', 1890.

, Copenhagen

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Rohde, including furniture and silverware.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohde, Johan 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters Danish lithographers Danish designers 1856 births 1935 deaths People from Randers Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists 20th-century lithographers