Poul Simon Christiansen, frequently referred to as Poul S. Christiansen (20 October 1855, Rolfsted, Funen – 14 November 1933, Copenhagen) was a Danish painter who developed a

Colourist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

style under

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, ...

and as a result of his appreciation of the works of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

and

Vincent 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 artworks ...

. He painted landscapes and religious works, many of which became popular as reproductions."Poul Simon Christiansen"
''Gravsted.dk''. Retrieved 29 August 2011.

Biography

Trained by his father as a windmill builder, he studied art at Zahrtmann's Artists Studio School (1885–1890). He travelled to Italy on several occasions and stayed with Zahrtmann in

Civita d'Antino Civita d'Antino () is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of Central Italy. History ''Antinum'' was a city of the Marsi: it is mentioned in ancient sources only by Pliny, who enumerates Antinum among the citie ...

. Despite his own rather Grudvigian approach, he was considered 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 ...

to be one of their own when they exhibited his works at the Faaborg Museum."Poul S. Christiansen"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 29 August 2011. Christiansen met considerable opposition and it was only with Zahrtmann's support that he was able to exhibit at

Den Frie Udstilling Den Frie Udstilling ('The Free Exhibition') is a Danish artists' association, founded in 1891 by artists in protest against the admission requirements for the Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Modeled on the Salon des Refusés, it is Denmark's oldest asso ...

in 1895. However, he was not widely recognized until his works were exhibited retrospectively in 1910. He rather Grundvigian background led him to associate with the younger but more mature artists

Joakim Joakim or Joacim is a male given name primarily used in Scandinavian languages, Estonian and Finnish. It is derived from a transliteration of the Hebrew יהוֹיָקִים, and literally means "lifted by Jehovah". In the Old Testament, Jehoi ...

and

Niels Skovgaard Niels Kristian Skovgaard (2 November 1858 – 3 February 1938) was a Danish painter and sculptor. His statue of N.F.S. Grundtvig is considered to be a masterpiece of Danish sculpture. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Skovgaard was the son of the not ...

and with his old school friend Niels Larsen Stevns.Hanne Honnens de Lichtenberg, "Poul S. Christiansen"
''Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 30 August 2011. With his dedicated concern for detail and a feel for dramatic effect, Christiansen created monumental works with strong bright colours. Many of his works are drawn from the Bible, mythology, history and from Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

''. His Dante pictures, inspired by

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

and

Bernardino Luini Bernardino Luini (/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having taken ...

, reveal his

Expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

use of colour, perhaps also influenced by his appreciation of paintings by Gauguin and Van Gogh which were exhibited in Copenhagen in 1893. His large classical paintings of Danish landscapes are comparable to those of P. C. Skovgaard. Among his most notable paintings are ''Dante og Beatrice i paradiset'' (1893) and ''Knud den Store ved Havet'' (1908). From 1895, he was a member of

and in 1923 was awarded 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 ...

Selected works

Among Christiansen's most notable works are: *''Dante og Beatrice i paradiset'' (1893) *''Dante og Vergil ved helvedes port'' (1894) *''Kristi Opstandelse'' (1897) *''Englerne forkynder Kristi fødsel for hyrderne'' (altarpiece, 1897) *''Knud den store ved havet'' (1900) *''Landevej ved Karise'' (1907) *''Varm sommerdag i Tibirke Bakker'' (1910) *''Cività d'Antino i Abruzzerne'' (1911) *''Skovinteriør, Dyrnæs'' (1922) *''De kloge og de ukloge jomfruer'' (1924)

Gallery

File:Christiansen Sydeuropæisk bjerglandskab med hyrde i forgrunden 1905.jpg, Poul S. Christiansen: ''Sydeuropæisk bjerglandskab med hyrde i forgrunden'' (1905) File:Christiansen Dante and Beatrice in Paradise 1893.jpg, Poul S. Christiansen: ''Dante og Beatrice i paradiset'' (1895) File:Christensen Skovvej ved Dyrnæs 1915.jpg, Poul S. Christensen: ''Skovvej ved Dyrnæs'' (1915) File:Poul-S-Christiansen,- Portrait of Johan-Rohde, DK1.13,-B-278.jpg, Poul S. christensen: ''Portrait of Johan Rhode'' (unknown date)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Poul Simon 1855 births 1933 deaths 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists