Ingeborg Dorthea Frederiksen (9 May 1886 – 29 December 1976) was a Danish painter and

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

who is remembered for her accurate depictions of flora and fauna in Denmark and Greenland. She painted watercolours of Danish birds and flowers and published drawings of the country's principal trees. For a lengthy period, she provided assistance with the ornithological collections at the Danish Zoological Museum. In 1957, she illustrated ''Grøonlands Flora''.

Biography

Born in the village of Fangel, Odense Municipality, 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 ...

, Ingeborg Dorthea Frederiksen was the daughter of the carpenter Henrik Frederiksen and his wife Catherine Marie née Caspersen. After training in draftsmanship and engraving at the

Tegne- og Kunstindustriskolen for Kvinder Tegne- og Kunstindustriskolen for Kvinder (literally Draftsmanship and Industrial Design School for Women but sometimes referred to as the Arts and Crafts School for Women) was a private Danish educational establishment in Copenhagen. From 1875, it ...

, she attended 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 Dani ...

from 1908 where she studied under

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art school ...

and

Valdemar Irminger Valdemar Heinrich Nicolaus Irminger (29 December 1850 – 10 February 1938) was a Danish painter. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Irminger attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1867 and 1873. He went to Italy on a scholarship from 18 ...

, graduating in 1913. While still a student, from 1906 for reasons of health she spent over a year on the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

in the home of one of her sisters, returning for the summers of 1909, 1911 and 1913. Several of the works she created there, together with those from her visits to Iceland (1911, 1913, 1921) were shown at the commemorative exhibition arranged by the Danish Ornithological Society in connection with her 90th birthday. From arouhd 1920, Frederiksen worked as a porcelain decorator. In the mid-1920s, recuperating from the effects of a serious illness, she spent an extended period at the Nakkebøllefjord Sanatorium where the director, Otto Helms, was planning books on Danish birds. When she was in her mid-30s, the two embarked on fruitful collaboration which led to Frederiksen's full commitment to flora and fauna. In order to make ends meet during the 1930s, she found employment at the Danish Zoological Museum where she helped with the ornithological collections. Frederiksen became increasingly popular as an illustrator, working for a wide variety of botanical institutes and related bodies. One of her finest sets of bird illustrations was published in 1952 in Poul Jespersen's ''Danske Fugle, sjæædnere Arter''. The illustrations she included in ''Grønlands Flora'' (1957) received positive reviews. Her detailed drawings of trees were published in 1965 in ''Dansk Dendrologisk Årsskrift''. Ingeborg Frederiksen died in Copenhagen on 29 December 1976.

References

External links

Illustrations by Ingeborg Frederiksen from Statens Museum for Kunst
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederiksen, Ingeborg 1886 births 1976 deaths People from Odense Municipality Danish scientific illustrators Danish bird artists Botanical illustrators Danish painters Danish women painters Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni