Einar Utzon-Frank
Encyclopedia
Aksel 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 a large number of sculptures, many of which stand as public monuments. He was the uncle of Pritzker Prize
-winning architect Jørn Utzon
.
district of Copenhagen
in 1888, the son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon.
Utzon-Frank began his artistic life as a painter but changed direction to become a sculptor. He was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1906, where he became a close friend of the somewhat older Kai Nielsen
. However, the two friends followed diverging paths through their creative careers, with Nielsen following a lush modernism in contrast to Utzon-Frank's clear, cool classical style which follows the tradition of Bertel Thorvaldsen
.
From 1912 to 1913 Utzen-Frank travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin
, Dresden
, Munich
, Florence
, Rome
, Naples
, Paestum
, Paris
and later Italy
, Greece
and England
, and many of the classical influences from his travels are evident in his work.
in Copenhagen, a post in which he remained until 1955. In his teaching, he laid emphasis on solid craftsmanship skills. He was a teacher and educator of great importance and came to dominate several generations of sculptors, including Henry Heerup
, Sigrid Lütken, Janus Kamban
, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen
, Gestur Þorgrímsson and Douglas Bisset.
, and she married painter and author William Flemming Bergsøe on 21 March 1930.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
sculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced a large number of sculptures, many of which stand as public monuments. He was the uncle of Pritzker Prize
Pritzker Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honour "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built...
-winning architect Jørn Utzon
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , AC was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime...
.
Career
Einar Utzon-Frank was born in the FrederiksbergFrederiksberg
Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It surrounded by the city of Copenhagen. The municipality, co-extensive with its seat, covers an area of and has a total population of 98,782 making it the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, the fifth most...
district of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1888, the son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon.
Utzon-Frank began his artistic life as a painter but changed direction to become a sculptor. He was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1906, where he became a close friend of the somewhat older Kai Nielsen
Kai Nielsen (sculptor)
Kai Nielsen was a Danish sculptor.-Early life and education:Kai Nielsen was born on 26 November 1882 in Svendborg, the son of Christian Nielsen, a watchmaker, and his wife Ane Marie. At 15 he became an apprentice painter but was artistically inclined and began to paint landscapes and portraits...
. However, the two friends followed diverging paths through their creative careers, with Nielsen following a lush modernism in contrast to Utzon-Frank's clear, cool classical style which follows the tradition of Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy . Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was eleven years old...
.
From 1912 to 1913 Utzen-Frank travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Paestum
Paestum
Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Graeco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. It is located in the north of Cilento, near the coast about 85 km SE of Naples in the province of Salerno, and belongs to the commune of Capaccio, officially also named...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and later Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and many of the classical influences from his travels are evident in his work.
Academia
In 1918 at the age of 30, he was appointed a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of ArtRoyal Danish Academy of Art
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts has provided a practice-oriented complement to the scholarly investigation of the arts carried out at Danish universities for more than 250 years, playing a crucial part in the development of the distinctive tradition of the art of Denmark.- History :The Royal...
in Copenhagen, a post in which he remained until 1955. In his teaching, he laid emphasis on solid craftsmanship skills. He was a teacher and educator of great importance and came to dominate several generations of sculptors, including Henry Heerup
Henry Heerup
Henry Heerup was a painter and sculptor born in Frederiksberg, Denmark.He studied painting under Axel Jørgensen and Einar Nielsen at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. He also studied sculpture there under Einar Utzon-Frank. He painted The Old Oak in Wolfvalley in 1924. This was his first oil...
, Sigrid Lütken, Janus Kamban
Janus Kamban
Janus Kamban is a Faroese sculptor and last living representative from the "first generation" of professional artists in the Faroe Islands.Kamban is the first and most important sculptor in the Faroe Islands...
, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen
Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen
Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen was a Danish sculptor. Her preferred themes were domestic animals and people, with an intense, naturalistic portrayal of movements and sentiments. She also depicted themes from Nordic mythology...
, Gestur Þorgrímsson and Douglas Bisset.
Private life
He married Gerda Harriet Margrete Christensen on 4 December 1908. Their daughter Grete Utzon Frank was born on 8 February 1909 in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, and she married painter and author William Flemming Bergsøe on 21 March 1930.
Works
His best-known works include:- Knælende Aphrodite (1916)
- Atalante (1919)
- Slangedræber, the Police Headquarters, Copenhagen (1924)
- Beatrice as poesiens genius, Dantesøjlen, Copenhagen (1924), sold in 2003 for 28,000 DKKDanish kroneThe krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
- Sarkofag for Frederik VIIIFrederick VIII of DenmarkFrederick VIII was King of Denmark from 1906 to 1912.-Early life:Frederick was born on 3 June 1843 in the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen as Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior male line of the House of Oldenburg descended from Christian III of Denmark and who had...
, Roskilde CathedralRoskilde CathedralRoskilde Cathedral , in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. The first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick, it encouraged the spread of the Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe...
, RoskildeRoskildeRoskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
, Denmark - Hamlet Memorial Grave, CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, England (192) - Erik of PomeraniaEric of PomeraniaEric of Pomerania KG was King Eric III of Norway Norwegian Eirik, King Eric VII of Denmark , and as Eric King of Sweden...
(1926) - Youth, EnghaveparkenEnghaveparkenEnghaveparken is a public park in the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was laid out in the late 1920s to cater for the citizens of the expanding city.The park is designed in the Neoclassical style...
, Copenhagen (1933) - The Weather Girls, Richshuset, Copenhagen (1936)
- Knud the Holy, OdenseOdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, Denmark 1944) - Christian XChristian X of DenmarkChristian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
(Equestrian statue), Sankt Annæ PladsSankt Annæ PladsSankt Annæ Plads is a public square which marks the border between the Nyhavn area and the Frederiksstaden district in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a long narrow rectangle which extends inland from the waterfront, at a point just north of the Royal Danish Playhouse at the base of the Kvæsthusbroen...
, Copenhagen (1954) - Thorvaldsen (1953)