Søren Hjorth Nielsen (2 August 1901 – 7 July 1983) was a Danish painter and illustrator. He is remembered for his paintings of the allotments and outskirts of Copenhagen and later for his landscapes of the Bramsnæs Vig area in northwestern Zealand. He was a professor of painting 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 Dan ...
Einar Utzon-Frank
Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danish sculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. ...
. His earliest works at the Technical School in Silkeborg were detailed ink and watercolours including interiors. In 1923, he began etching with motifs from Copenhagen and the area around his home as well as scenes around
Odsherred
Odsherred is a peninsula in the north-western part of the island Zealand (Sjælland) in Denmark. Odsherred stretches from the Sjællands Odde in the north-west to the now drained Lammefjord in the south, covering an area with a wide range of the ...
where he spend some time in the 1930s. From 1926, he created religious subjects. His painting was essentially realistic, sometimes bordering on the grotesque. His ''Spisehuset'' (1935) depicts the loneliness of a poor city dweller while other works cover the disadvantaged and homeless inhabitants of
Christianshavn
Christianshavn (literally, "ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...
. For a time he also worked as a portrait painter. His favourite subjects included the allotments and harbour districts of Copenhagen. From 1954, Hjorth Nielsen also created a series of works depicting the roofs of the city he observed from his penthouse on
Gammel Strand
Gammel Strand (modern Danish for "old beach"; originally meant "the old shoreline", i.e. prior to land reclamations) is a street and public square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. On the south side it borders on the narrow Slotsholmens Canal whi ...
. His landscapes included summer scenes at Vester Åby on Funen and around Bramsnæs Vig on the west coast of Zealand; the houses and vegetation in the bottom half of the paintings contrasted with the stillness of the low-set horizon. In his later years, he painted a number of summer and winter scenes from his house at Tempelhuse to the south-east of
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).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 ...
in his early years to participation in the renewal of Danish landscape painting. He was also active in etchings and woodcuts covering studies of models at the Academy, sketches during his travels or landscape depictions. He was also a keen draftsman, often producing crayon drawings as a basis for his oils.
Awards
Hjorth Nielsen was awarded the
Eckersberg Medal
The Eckersberg Medal (originally the ''Akademiets Aarsmedaille'' or Annual Academy Medal) is an annual award of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of Danish painting.
The Ec ...
in 1949 and 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 ...