Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (7 September 1863 – 4 April 1958) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

painter, sculptor, graphic artist, architect and photographer. He became associated with the movements of

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

and

Expressionism 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 rad ...

Biography

J. F. Willumsen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Willumsen and Ane Kirstine. He was initially trained in art 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 Dani ...

from 1881 to 1885 and in architecture at the

Copenhagen Technical College Copenhagen Technical College (Danish: Københavns Tekniske Skole, KTS) is a school of secondary education in Copenhagen, Denmark. The school offers educational programmes within the technical sciences on a secondary level to post-primary youth, Hig ...

from 1879 to 1882. He completed his education in 1885 with the artists P.S. Krøyer (1851-1909) and

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 ...

(1853–1927). His works were exhibited in the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

, the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

, the

Société des Artistes Indépendants The Société des Artistes Indépendants (''Society of Independent Artists'') or Salon des Indépendants was formed in Paris on 29 July 1884. The association began with the organization of massive exhibitions in Paris, choosing the slogan "''sans ...

, the art gallery of

Le Barc de Boutteville The art gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville, at 47 Rue le Peletier, Rue Le Peletier, 9th arrondissement, was one of the few places in Paris in the 1890s where young artists were welcome to present their work to the public, in the years after the deat ...

and at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. He was employed from 1897 to 1900 as an artistic director at the porcelain factory

Bing & Grøndahl Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the t ...

. Besides painting, Willumsen had interests in sculpture, architecture, ceramics, and photography, and was an accomplished engraver. His sculpture '' The Great Relief'' (completed 1928) was included in the 2006

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon ( da, Kulturkanonen) consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian ...

as one of Denmark's cultural masterpieces. Willumsen visited Norway in 1892 and had associations with

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

in the north of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

which he first visited in 1906. It was here that he carried out most of the preparatory work on his painting ''Badende børn på Skagen strand'' (completed in 1909). Willumsen was an influence on Norwegian landscape painter

Kitty Lange Kielland Kitty Lange Kielland (8 October 1843 – 1 October 1914) was a Norwegian landscape painter. Early life and training Kielland was born to an affluent family in Stavanger, the older sister of Alexander Kielland. Kielland's interactions with her b ...

(1843–1914), who attempted to simplify her art in order to follow his style. In 1910, he toured

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. Willumsen lived almost half of his life in France. He settled in the south of France in 1916. He was awarded the

Prince Eugen Medal The Prince Eugen Medal ( sv, Prins Eugen-medaljen) is a medal conferred by the King of Sweden for "outstanding artistic achievement". The medal was established in 1945 by the then King of Sweden, Gustaf V, in connection with the eightieth birthd ...

in 1947. He died in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

during 1958. The J.F. Willumsens Museum, which exhibits many of his works, was opened during 1957 in

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden with a population of 16,850 (1 January 2022).ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum The ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum is an art museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum opened with exhibitions in a brand new m ...

Aarhus, Denmark Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

and at the special Victor Petersen's Willumsen Collection near

Hjørring Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (accor ...

Personal life

Willumsen was married twice. In 1890 he married sculptor Juliette Meyer. Together they had sons Jan Bjørn in 1891 and Bode in 1895. In 1903, Willumsen, married sculptor Edith Wessel, after being divorced from Juliette. In second marriage he had daughters Ingemor Gersemi in 1906 and Anne-Mathilde in 1909.

References

Other sources

*Hans Bendix (1982) ''J.F. Willumsen, samvær og rejser'' (Carit Andersen)

External links

J. F. Willumsens Museum website
1863 births 1958 deaths 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters 19th-century Danish sculptors 20th-century Danish sculptors Male sculptors Artists from Copenhagen Pont-Aven painters Skagen Painters 20th-century sculptors 19th-century sculptors Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists {{Denmark-sculptor-stub