Maja Lisa Engelhardt (born 1956) is a Danish painter whose works are inspired by the landscapes of north-western

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

where she was brought up. She now lives in Paris with her husband

Peter Brandes Peter Brandes (5 March 1944 – 4 January 2025) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and photographer. Biography Brandes' art is abstract and often in brown colours. He had his breakthrough as artist in the beginning of the 1980s. H ...

who is also a painter. She has decorated several central buildings in Copenhagen and, more recently, has designed works for Danish churches.

Early life and education

Engelhardt was born on 2 May 1956 in

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 ...

, a wealthy part of Copenhagen, as the daughter of Knud Harald Jensen and his wife Elli Rasmussen. She grew up in the Sejerø Bay area on the

Odsherred Odsherred is a peninsula in the north-western part of the island Zealand (Sjælland) in Denmark. Odsherred stretches from the Sjællands Odde in the north-west to the now drained Lammefjord in the south, covering an area with a wide range of the ...

peninsula in west Zealand where she experienced a difficult childhood with an alcoholic mother and a threatening father, increasingly jealous of her artistic talents. Furthermore, she felt she had to protect her two younger sisters from her aggressive parents. Salvation came when she was 16 after she found

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

's book ''Kjerlighedens Gerninger'' (''

Works of Love ''Works of Love'' () is a book by Søren Kierkegaard, written in 1847. It is one of the works which he published under his own name, as opposed to his more famous "pseudonymous" works. ''Works of Love'' deals primarily with the Christian concepti ...

'') in the library at

Kalundborg Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,659 (1 January 2025),Funen Art Academy Funen Art Academy () is an independent, nationally recognized educational institution located in central Odense, Denmark offering a 5-year programme in contemporary visual arts. The academy is funded jointly by the Danish Ministry of Culture, th ...

where she graduated in 1980.

Artistic career

Since 1981, she has lived with her husband Peter Brandes in Colombes just outside Paris but her works have continued to be inspired by the nature she experienced on Sejrø Bay during her childhood. She did not begin to exhibit until she was 29 although she had begun to draw and paint from an early age. She received immediate recognition in 1985 when she first exhibited at the Nikolaj Gallery in Copenhagen. This was followed in 1987 by her participation at Copenhagen's Charlottenborg and Paris's

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

. In 1995, she enjoyed considerable success in New York. Her images are essentially abstract but they always contain memories of the Danish landscape with strong connections to nature expressed in bright, rich colours ranging from solidly sketched sections to hazy, almost weightless fragments. In Denmark, Engelhardt has contributed to the decoration of the then Kjøbenhavns Telefon Aktieselskab headquarters in Copenhagen,

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

with her tapestries ''Noli me tangere'' (2000) and ''Embla'' (2002) and the

Supreme Court of Denmark The Supreme Court (, lit. ''Highest Court'', , ) is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Pa ...

with four large paintings in 2004. More recently she has designed works for Danish churches including a huge bronze door for

Viborg Cathedral Viborg Cathedral, Our Lady Cathedral () is the site of one of Denmark's most important historic churches located in the town of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg in northern Jutland. The modern building is a 19th-century construction based on Lund Cathedra ...

in 2012.

References

External links

Works by Maja Lisa Engelhardt at Statens Museum for Kunst
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engelhardt, Maja Lisa 1956 births Living people 20th-century Danish women painters 20th-century Danish painters 21st-century Danish women painters 21st-century Danish painters Artists from Frederiksberg Danish landscape painters