Alfred Simonsen (16 December 1906 – 12 April 1935) was a Danish painter who in the early 1930s became associated with the

artists' colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of Artist, artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior exi ...

in northwestern

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

known as the

Odsherred Painters Odsherred Painters ( da, Odsherredsmalerne) is a term applied to Danish artists from various periods with connections to Odsherred in the northwest of Zealand, Denmark. Some were born there while others settled in the area or painted there. While ...

. When he died at the early age of 27, he had only completed about 30 paintings and a few sketches.

Biography

The son of a gardener, Simonsen was born in Kølstrup, a little village near

Kerteminde Kerteminde (nickname: ''Min Amandas by'', i.e. ''My Amanda's town''), is a town in central Denmark, located in Kerteminde Municipality on the island of Funen. The town has a population of 6,042 (1 January 2022).

on the Danish island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

. He was given painting lessons by an Odense theatre painter from about 1920. From 1926 to 1932, he studied painting at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) 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 Dan ...

under Ejnar Nielsen and Aksel Jørgensen. While there, he developed a friendship with

Erik Raadal Erik Kristoffer Raadal (18 June 1905 – 13 January 1941) was a Danish painter. During his short life, Raadal became one of Denmark's most important landscape painters of the 1930s, often painting scenes around Gjern, his home town in central Jutl ...

and

Karl Bovin Karl (Kalle) Christian Bovin (1907–1985) was a Danish painter whose work focused on landscapes of Odsherred, a region in the north-west of Zealand. In the 1930s, he became a central member in the Odsherred Painters artists' colony and helped ...

. His association with

Ernst Syberg Ernst Axel Syberg (12 January 1906 – 17 August 1981) was a Danish painter who in the early 1930s associated with the artists' colony in northwestern Zealand known as the Odsherred Painters. From 1934, he was a member of Corner where he exhibited ...

also brought him into contact with the

Funen Painters The Funen Painters or ''Fynboerne'' were a loose group of Denmark, 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 Kuns ...

, encouraging to paint scenes of the Funen countryside, especially around Korup and Svanninge. His paintings also show strong resemblances with those of the

, especially the dark colouring and the elevated horizon. His later works are rather brighter with bolder colour combinations. Simonsen died when very young, leaving only about 30 paintings and a few sketches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonsen, Alfred 1906 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Danish painters People from Kerteminde