Johannes Clausen Bjerg (26 January 1886 – 17 February 1955) was a Danish sculptor who worked primarily in the El Greco-style.

Early life

Born in Ødis near

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companies, ...

, Bjerg attended the Latin School in Kolding before serving an apprenticeship with A.L. Johansen & Son in 1907 during which he created an oak bust of his father. Thereafter he spent an extended period in Copenhagen (1908–11) during which he created a silver medal for a bronze bust of his father. In 1911, he went to Paris to associate with progressive artists of the times such as

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, leading to his Cubic bronze bust of the Finnish sculptor Bertil Nilsson (1912).

Career

While in Paris, Bjerg became a member of

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

association, in which Auguste Agero (1880–1945) became a source of Cubic inspiration. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he returned to Denmark, where he crafted ''Abessinieren'' (1915), followed by ''Den svangre'' (1918), ''Elskovskampen'' (1922) and ''Danaide'' (1923), of which copies were installed in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odensen. He later created monuments and statues of other figures which were installed in many Danish towns and cities. From the mid-1920s, he became Denmark's most prominent sculptor creating numerous official monuments in the traditional Danish Neoclassical style. From 1922, Bjerg was a member 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 asso ...

. In 1945, he became a professor 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 ...

where he was director from 1943 to 1946.

Awards

Bjerg was awarded the

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. It ...

in 1944.

References

Literature

External links

Johannes Bjerg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjerg, Johannes 1886 births 1955 deaths People from Kolding Municipality Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts 20th-century Danish sculptors Male sculptors 20th-century Danish male artists Burials at the Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen