Jens Ferdinand Willumsen

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (Copenhagen, 7 September 1863 – Cannes, 4 April 1958) was a Danish artist who was associated with the movements of Symbolism and Expressionism. Although he was Danish, Willumsen lived almost half of his life in France. Besides painting, Willumsen had interests in sculpture, architecture, ceramics, and photography, and was an accomplished engraver. His sculpture The Great Relief (completed 1928) was included in the 2006 Danish Culture Canon as one of Denmark's cultural masterpieces.^[1]

Willumsen had associations with Skagen in the north of Jutland which he first visited in 1906. It was here that he carried out most of the preparatory work on his painting Badende børn på Skagen strand (Children bathing on Skagen beach) which he completed in 1909.^[2]

The J.F. Willumsens Museum in Frederikssund exhibits many of his works.

Willumsen was an influence for Kitty Lange Kielland, who attempted to simplify her art in order to follow his style.^[3] There are also paintings by Willimsen in the collection of the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Aarhus, Denmark. He was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal in 1947. ^[4]

References

1. "Det store Relief, 1928, J.F. Willumsen (1863–1958)", in Kulturkontacten 20, 2006. (Danish) Retrieved 8 February 2013.
2. ""J.F. Willumsen: Badende børn på Skagen strand. 1909"" (in Danish). Skagens Museum. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
3. "Kitty Lange Kielland". A Mirror Of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
4. "Prins Eugen Medaljen" (PDF). Retrieved 14 February 2015.