Vilhelmine "Ville" Jais Nielsen (née Oppenheim; 1 May 1886 – 7 November 1949) 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 ance ...

painter and sculptor. She is remembered for the many portraits of women she painted while in Sweden during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, marked by strong brushstrokes and sensitive lighting effects. Her husband was the artist

Jais Nielsen Johannes Knud Ove Jais-Nielsen (23 April 1885 – 8 November 1961) was a Danish painter, designer and ceramist, best known for the religious figure groups that he designed for the Royal Copenhagen pottery. Biography Nielsen was born in Copenhage ...

Early life and family

She was born 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).Mogens Ballin Mogens Ballin (20 March 1871, Copenhagen – 27 January 1914, Hellerup) was a Danish artist, one of a group of painters who gathered in the Breton village of Pont-Aven. He later became a notable silversmith designing jewelry and lamps.

; an apprenticeship with the silversmith

Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grin ...

(1909); and

porcelain painting China painting, or porcelain painting, is the decoration of glazed porcelain objects such as plates, bowls, vases or statues. The body of the object may be hard-paste porcelain, developed in China in the 7th or 8th century, or soft-paste porcel ...

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 ...

(1910–12). She was a student of Othon Friesz in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(1912),

Harald Giersing Harald Giersing (24 April 1881 – 15 January 1927) was a Danish painter. He was instrumental in developing the classic modernism movement in Denmark around 1910-1920. He is remembered as one of Denmark's most important 20th-century artists both f ...

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 ...

(1913), and

Henrik Sørensen Henrik Sørensen (12 February 1882 – 24 February 1962) was a Norwegian painter. Personal life Sørensen was born in Fryksände in Sweden as a son of Severin Sørensen and Helene Høibraaten. He was married to Gudrun Klewe, and is father of ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(1914).Kirsten Olesen, "Ville Jais Nielsen"
''Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 17 February 2013. She was the sister of architect

Albert Oppenheim Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...

, the wife of the painter and ceramist

, and the mother of the architect Henrik Jais-Nielsen.

Career

Like most of her contemporaries, her early work was in the

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

and

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

styles, with strongly contrasting colours, often influenced by

's use of black. Her later work, especially her portraits, was much lighter. As a Jew, she had to leave Denmark for Sweden in the Second World War where she painted a large number of interiors and portraits of women (1943–1945), with marked sensitivity to the effects of lighting. She also painted landscapes, including some of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, the strong brushstrokes giving them an ornamental effect. In 1949, she and her husband spent some time in

Vence Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop of Vence is Severu ...

in the south of France where she painted some of her finest works. After returning to Denmark, she died a few months later in

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

when she was only 63.Ulla Grut, "Ville Jais-Nielsen (1886 - 1949)"
''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 17 February 2013.

Exhibitions

She first exhibited at the 1916 Autumn Exhibition at Charlottenborg. She also exhibited in other exhibitions in Denmark, often together with her husband, as well as in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

."Vilhelmine (Ville) Jais-Nielsen"
Gravested.dk. Retrieved 17 February 2013. In 1949, she organized a large retrospective of her works at

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 ...

which received enthusiastic support from the press.

Awards

In 1945, she was awarded the

Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal The Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal ( da, Thorvald Bindesbøll Medaljen) is an award granted annually by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for excellence in the fields of applied art and industrial design. The medal was established in 1979 in connec ...

and, in 1947, 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 ...

for a portrait of her 25-year-old daughter, Lise.

References

External links

Ville Jais Nielsen
at geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Ville Jais 1886 births 1949 deaths People from Randers Danish women painters Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Recipients of the Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal 20th-century Danish painters 20th-century Danish women artists Burials at Mariebjerg Cemetery