Jens Willumsen

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen was a Danish Symbolist artist, most of whose career was in France.

He was born into the family of an entrepreneur who lived and worked in Copenhagen.

Jens Willumsen was close to the creative school of Pont-Aven, due to his acquaintance with Paul Gauguin and collaborated with the artists of the Nabi group, taking part in collective exhibitions. He was one of the organizers of the “Free Exhibition” in Copenhagen, which united avant-garde artists of Denmark and was the architect of the exhibition pavilion of the group. Willumsen worked as a painter, graphic artist, engraver, ceramist, sculptor, architect and photographer. He used almost all available art tools and boldly experimented with the form, color and material in his works.

Key ideas:

– Willumsen’s work is very heterogeneous. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts, he worked for some time in a naturalistic style, depicting the daily work of ordinary people. He achieved some success in this field. However, under the impression of an exhibition of modern French art in Copenhagen in 1888, he planned to leave Denmark and go to Paris. This decision was a turning point in the fate of the artist, the creative principles of who underwent drastic changes.

– Jens Willumsen begins to try his hand in different styles. He gets acquainted with Paul Gauguin and briefly adheres to the Pont-Aven school. A vivid example of this period is the painting “Walking Breton Women” (1890). Later the artist becomes close to the members of the “Nabi” group, whose aesthetics greatly influenced him. In the last period of his work, Willumsen finally finds his own style, close to Symbolism and Expressionism and featuring a Scandinavian temperament.

– Despite the wide variety of styles and art forms, ranging from small engravings to monumental sculptures and architectural objects, Willumsen’s art can be characterized by certain features that are repeated in many of his works. First of all, it is the saturation of his canvases, both color and emotional, which increases with the years. Mature works of the artist are dynamic; they show the relationship with nature and are aimed at finding the place of a human being in the universe.

– The artist was an innovator and advocated for any experiments in art, for which he was considered a rebel in his homeland. Willumsen said: “Old painting speaks an old language, which is hard to understand. The new painting is a new language, the only one that must be learned to understand.”