Sofie Holten (12 August 1858–5 June 1930) was a Danish painter who created

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

flower paintings Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, mo ...

and

genre works Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

. She is remembered in particular for her portraits of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

and L. A. Ring. She was also active in social work and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Biography

Born on 12 August 1858 in

Skuldelev Skuldelev is a town in the Frederikssund Municipality in North Zealand, Denmark. It is located 5 km northeast of Skibby, 11 km south of Jægerspris and 11 km southwest of Frederikssund. As of 2024, it has a population of 858. In 1 ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, Sofie Holten was the daughter of the parish priest Hans Nicolai Holten (1829–1871) and Marenstine Smith (1830–1913). She received private instruction in painting from

Christen Dalsgaard Christen Dalsgaard (30 October 1824 – 11 February 1907) was a Danish painter, a late student of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. Biography Early life and education Christen Dalsgaard was born on 30 October 1824. He was the son of the owne ...

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).

and later from

Carl Thomsen Carl Christian Frederik Jacob Thomsen (6 April 1847 – 4 October 1912) was a Danish painter and illustrator. He specialized in genre painting and also illustrated the works of several Danish authors. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Thomsen was th ...

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 ...

. From 1875 to 1876, she attended N. Zahle's School. In 1879, she went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where she studied the most modern methods of painting with teachers including

Félix-Joseph Barrias Félix-Joseph Barrias (13 September 1822 – 24 January 1907) was a French painter. He was well known in his day for his paintings of religious, historical or mythical subjects, but has now been largely forgotten. Artists who trained in his s ...

and Alfred Stevens. On returning to Denmark, she exhibited at the

Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition The Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (''Charlottenborg Forårsudstilling'') is an annual art exhibition in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. The event is held at the Charlottenborg Exhibition Building (''Kunsthal Charlottenborg''). Kunsthal Cha ...

in 1883. Shortly afterwards, she returned to Paris, exhibiting in the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

(1886–1887). In the 1890s, she travelled to the Nethlerlands, Germany, Italy, England and Greece. Holten exhibited her work at the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to 197 ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago, Illinois. She continued to exhibit in Charlottenborg until 1904, presenting genre works, portraits and flower paintings. In addition to her portrait of Strindberg, her ''Brudstykke af Parthenons Cellefrise'' (1901) and her painting of the

Erechtheion The Erechtheion (, latinized as Erechtheum ; , ) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Ionic building, which housed the ...

(1904) attracted attention. As a young women, Holten exhibited confidence in her own abilities which encouraged her to avoid marriage. In the late 1880s, she wrote reviews of female artists in ''Kvinden og Samfundet'' which was published by the

Danish Women's Society The Danish Women's Society or DWS () is Denmark's oldest women's rights organization. It was founded in 1871 by activist Matilde Bajer and her husband Fredrik Bajer; Fredrik was a Member of Parliament and the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The as ...

. She also lectured on clothing, calling for attire which would free women from their traditional role of the housewife. She was one of the driving forces behind the Copenhagen Women's Exhibition in 1895, supporting a proposal for a women's exhibition building (although this was not realized until 1936). In later life, after a period in

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

, Italy, Holten became a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Settling in

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 ...

with her friend Erikke Rosenørn-Lehn, she decorated the city's St Laurenti Church. For this work she received the

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. History The medal was established by Leo XII ...

award. She is buried in Roskilde at the Old Church of Our Lady.

Gallery

File:Sophie Holten - Interiør med kone der læser sin avis.png, ''Interiør med kone der læser sin avis'', oil on canvas File:Sofie Holten, Udsigt over Delft (kopi efter Johannes Vermeer) .png, ''View on Delft'', oil on canvas, copied after a work by

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...

File:Sophie Holten A little girl at a red gate.jpg, ''En lille pige ved en rød låge'', oil on canvas File:August Strindberg, 1849-1912 (Sofie Holten) - Nationalmuseum - 19311.tif, ''

1849–1912'', oil on canvas, 1885 File:Sophie Holten - Ung kvinde siddende ved en søbred - 1885.png, ''Ung kvinde siddende ved en søbred'', oil on canvas, 1885 File:Sophie Holten, Landskab med huse, 1888, KKS362, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg, ''Landskab med huse'', etching print,1888

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holten, Sophie 1858 births 1930 deaths 19th-century Danish painters 20th-century Danish painters 20th-century Danish artists

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

People from Frederikssund Municipality People from Roskilde 20th-century Danish women painters 19th-century Danish women painters