Johan Gudmann Rohde (1 November 1856 – 18 February 1935) was a Danish painter, lithographer and designer. He was the principal founder of
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 ass ...
, established in 1891 to allow artists to exhibit works which did not fall within the
Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
's selection criteria."Om Den Frie" , Den Frie Udstilling. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
Early life
Rhode was born on 1 November 1856 in
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Kunstnernes Studieskole (Students' School of Study) 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 scho ...
Rohde first exhibited at Charlottenborg's spring exhibition in 1888 with an everyday scene: ''En Beværtningshave i Udkanten af København'' (A Tavern Garden on the Outskirts of Copenhagen). When his paintings were later refused by the Academy, together with those of
Vilhelm Hammershøi
Vilhelm Hammershøi (), often anglicised as Vilhelm Hammershoi (15 May 186413 February 1916), was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, subdued portraits and interiors.Souren Melikian,Hammershoi's decade of brilliance, before banality set ...
,
Fritz Syberg
Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Syberg, generally known as Fritz Syberg, (28 July 1862, Fåborg – 20 December 1939, Kerteminde) was a Danish painter and illustrator, one of the or Funen Painters (''Fynboerne'') living and working on the ...
Harald
Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to:
Medieval Kings of Denmark
* Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986)
Kings of Norway
* Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933)
* Harald Greycloak (died 970)
* Harald Hardra ...
and
Agnes Slott-Møller
Agnes Slott-Møller, née Rambusch (10 June 1862, in Nyboder – 11 June 1937, in Løgismose, Assens Municipality), was a Danish Symbolist painter; influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. She is known for works inspired by Danish history and folklore. ...
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 ass ...
where he exhibited throughout his life."Johan Rohde" ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
Rohde travelled widely, not only exhibiting his works, but playing a key role for Danish art until 1914 by following news trends, making new contacts and writing carefully formulated articles in the Danish newspapers. He had eye for works of value, buying a painting by
Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
in Paris in 1892 (now in the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...
. He also arranged an exhibition of Van Gogh's works in Den Frie in 1893. His own works from the 1890s are influenced by Symbolism, especially his portraits."Johan Rohde" ''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
Design
Furniture and silver
Rohde also played an important part in the development of Danish craftsmanship with his high-quality silver designs (for Georg Jensen as well as furniture in both classical and Japanese styles.
Rohde found his way into the applied artys when he began designing furniture and silver for his own home. These were produced by some of the leading Danish workshops of his time. In 1906, he thus commissioned Georg Jensen to execute some silver based on jis own drawings. Impressed with what he saw, Jensen then commissioned Rohde to create some designs for his workshop. Rohde was initially also working with other silvermsiths until Jensen secured an exclusive contract with him him in 1914. Among his most significant designs for Georg Jensen are the Acorn (Konge, 1915) and Schroll (Sagam 1927) flatware patterns and the Cosmos yea and coffee service (1915).
File:Johan Rohde - Chair for Dr. Alfred Pers.jpg, Chair designed by Rode in 1898 for Dr. Alfred Pers now on display in the Danish Design Museum
File:Johan Rohde - chair.jpg, Chair designed by Rode on display in the Danish Design Museum.
Silver
Rhode's first silver designs were some spoons executed by Mogens Ballin in 1903. His first designs for Georg Jensen were created in 1906 and developed into a life-ling collaboration from 1908, although it was not contractually formalized until 1917. His work comprised cutlery and hollowware. It included the popular Acorn pattern for Georg Jensen.
File:Georg Jensen - Acorn pattern tea ball.jpg, Georg Jensen - Acorn pattern tea ball.
File:Bowl MET 22.163.1.jpg, Rhode desig.
File:Coffee pot with Lid MET 1991.284.1ab-4.jpg, Coffee set by Rhode.
Printmaking
His 45 lithographs comprise portraits by J.F. Willumsen and Jan Verkade; as well as reproductions of Hammershøi's ''En Ung Pige der syer'', J.-F. Millet's ''Brændehuggeren og Døden'' and Joakim Skovgaard's ''Bethesda Dam''. He did not work with etchings until late in his life. 87 of his 97 etchings were created in the period 1932–34
He resided at Nyhavn 22 (first floor) from 1888 until 1900. On 1 November 1900, he moved to a second-floor apartment at
Silkegade
Silkegade ( lit. "Silk Street") is a minor street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark, linking busy shopping street Købmagergade in the west with Pilestræde in the east. Sparekassen Bikuben's former headquarters at No. 6–8 is listed on the ...
13- On 1 May 1908, he moved to an aoartment at
Silkegade
Silkegade ( lit. "Silk Street") is a minor street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark, linking busy shopping street Købmagergade in the west with Pilestræde in the east. Sparekassen Bikuben's former headquarters at No. 6–8 is listed on the ...
13. On 1 May 1903 to 1 November 1904, he lived on the third floor of the Zinn House ( Kvæsthusgade 3). From 1 November 1904 to 1 November 1911, he then lived at Nybrogade 12. He then resided first at
Åbenrå
Aabenraa (; , ; Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It was the seat of Sønder ...
31 (second floor, 1 November 1911 - 1 November 1913) and
Ny Vestergade
Ny Vestergade ( lit. English: New West Street) is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Frederiksholms Kanal to Vester Voldgade and together with Christiansborg's riding grounds, Marble Bridge and Dantes Plads forms an axis between ...
13 (third floor, 1 November 1913 -1 May 1919) before moving to his last home at Norgesmindevej 16 ub Hellerup.
Personal life
Rhode married on 18 October 1903 in St. Andrew's Church in Copenhagen cand.mag. Asa Zøylner (1874-1960), daughter of businessman Johannes Henrik Emil Zøylner. (1838–1921) and Harriet Clausen (1842–1922). He was the father of the League of Nationions official Gabriele Rohde and civil servant and director of the
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
Thorvaldsen Medal
The Thorvaldsen Medal ( 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 the visual arts. I ...
.
Selected paintings
File:Johan Rohde - Udenfor Girgenti med henblik af templerne.jpg, View Outside
Agrigento
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...
File:Johan Rohde - Den store Kanal i Venedig.jpg, The Grand Canal in Venice
File:Johan Rohde - Unge nøgne bueskytter.jpg, Naked Young Archers
File:Pontoppidan, Henrik (av Johan Rohde).jpg,
Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan (24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and shor ...
File:Johan Rohde - Fin de soirée sur le môle à Hoorn.jpg, Johan Rohde: ''Quiet Evening in the Harbor at Hoorn'', 1893. The Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen
File:Johan Rohde- Selvportræt, ca.1890.tif, Johan Rohde: ''Selv-portrait'', 1890. The Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen