Karl Oscar Isakson (16 January 1878, in Stockholm – 19 February 1922) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

painter who spent much of his professional life in Denmark where he is considered to be one of the fathers of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. He had close associations with the

Bornholm school of painters The Bornholm school of painters (''Bornholmerskolen'') started to take shape towards the beginning of the 20th century on the Danish island of Bornholm when a number of artists developed a distinctive style of classic modernism, inspired by the i ...

and made many paintings of Christiansø.Lars Rostrup Bøyesen "Karl Isakson"
''Kunstineks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 6 September 2011. He is cited as an artist who "sought to give their Biblical works a modern social and political context."

Biography

Isakson was brought up in difficult circumstances in Stockholm. His father, blacksmith Karl Frederik, died when he was only eight months old, leaving his mother, Mathilda, to raise him and his sister Esther by running a laundry. At school he did so well he was known as the little professor. At home, in order to escape from the family misery, he began to draw, often surrounded by piles of laundry. He left school at the age of 13 to help out with the family finances by becoming a painter's assistant. When he was 15, on his own initiative he began taking evening classes in drawing at the Technical School. He also showed great interest in literature reading Swedish authors such as

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 was ...

and Wilhelm Ekelund and Danish works by Søren Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen.Lena Månsson, "Karl Isakson - En konstnär för andra konstnärer"
''Tidningen Kulturen'', 23 April 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011. Before attending the Swedish Academy, Isakson worked as

Carl Larsson Carl Olof Larsson (; 28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic fa ...

's assistant, helping him with the frescos in the stairwell of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Larsson took a great interest in Isakson and encouraged him in his studies. In 1902, he travelled on a grant to Italy where he came into contact with

Kristian Zahrtmann Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, (31 March 1843 – 22 June 1917) was a Denmark, Danish Painting, painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and ...

and his colony of Danish painters who introduced him to modern French trends, especially

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

. He returned to Copenhagen with Zahrtmann where he attend his art classes, meeting many young artists associated with the beginning of Modernism in Danish painting. He developed an interest in what he called pure art, which like pure thought conveyed life's universal correspondences rather than the partial details of Realism and Naturalism. Like Carl Kylberg and Violet Tengberg, he believed art should have an existential or spiritual function, conveying a sense of higher transcendental values. Thanks to his paintings of Christiansø, Isakson is considered to be one of the fathers of modern painting in Denmark. His landscape painting of Christiansø's ''Mindet'' (1911) shows how much he was influenced by Cézanne, both in his strong colouring and his use of parallel brush strokes."Karl Isakson"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 6 September 2011.

Artwork

Studying in Paris (1905–1907), Isakson was influenced by the great French colourists, such as

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

and symbolists, above all

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

. But it was in 1911 that he underwent a transformation, influenced by Cézanne's colour and mathematical approach. He continued to paint landscapes, still lifes and interiors but with a greater attention to colour and form in an analytical Cubist style. Like the Neoimpressionists, he juxtaposed fields of colour to achieve maximum effect. He often worked with complementary colours such as a blue bowl with randomly placed oranges. Cézanne's ability to dispense with the unessential in order to achieve true synthesis provided a starting point for Isakson to become a Modernist. After discovering Christiansø in 1911, Isakson spent much of his time painting the island's defences and landscapes. These became his favourite subjects, even though he continued to paint still lifes and models in a Copenhagen studio. After a spell in Paris (1914), where he studied under

Henri Le Fauconnier Henri Victor Gabriel Le Fauconnier (July 5, 1881 – December 25, 1946) was a French Cubist painter born in Hesdin. Le Fauconnier was seen as one of the leading figures among the Montparnasse Cubists. At the 1911 Salon des Indépendants Le Fauco ...

and

André Dunoyer de Segonzac André Dunoyer de Segonzac (6 July 1884 – 17 September 1974) was a French painter and graphic artist. Biography Segonzac was born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine and spent his childhood there and in Paris. His parents wanted him to attend the military ...

, his work progressed from theoretical Cubism to a more Nordic style where his temperament and physical imbalance left their traces. When the military base of Christiansø was closed to foreigners during 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 ...

, Isakson suffered a nervous breakdown from which he never fully recovered. During the war years, he painted landscapes on Bornholm, for example ''Udsigt over Gudhjem'' (1921) while secretly working on a series of religious paintings focussing on death and resurrection. During his lifetime, Isakson rarely exhibited his work. His paintings first attracted attention after a commemorative exhibition at Liljevalchs in Stockholm in 1922.

Works in Danish museums

Kunstindeks Danmark provides an illustrated list of over 50 of Isakson's works in Danish museums. The largest collections are in

Statens Museum for Kunst The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

in Copenhagen and in Bornholms Kunstmuseum."Karl Isakson", ''Kunstindeks Danmark''
Retrieved 7 September 2011.

Gallery

File:Jesus uppväcker Lazarus, målning av Karl Isakson.jpg, Resurrection of Lazarus (1921) File:Isakson Fra Møens Klint 1904.jpg, "From

Møns Klint Møns Klint is a 6 km stretch of limestone and chalk cliffs along the eastern coast of the Danish island of Møn in the Baltic Sea. Some of the cliffs fall a sheer 120 m to the sea below. The highest cliff is , which is 128 m above sea le ...

(1904) File:Isakson Landskab ved Mindet Christiansø 1911.jpg, Memories, Christiansø (1911) File:Isakson Christiansoe.jpg, Bastions, Christiansø (1921)

Biography

Artwork

Works in Danish museums

Gallery

References

Further reading