Wilhelm Freddie was born into the family of an intellectual – an employee of the Institute of Pathology at the University of Copenhagen; this gave him an opportunity to get acquainted with the anatomical collection that inspired him in the late period of his creative career.
1909 - 1995
Wilhelm Freddie
description
A Danish painter, sculptor, director, who is considered a pioneer of Surrealism not only in his own country, but in the Scandinavian art as a whole. This was so despite the fact that the artist was almost an amateur. Wilhelm Freddie initially worked as an abstract artist, but later moved away from non-figurative painting and turned to Surrealism, a more realistic style. Nazi and Fascism were criticized in a number of paintings by the artist (primarily in his “Meditation” created in 1936); as a result he was officially prevented from visiting Germany, and later was forced to seek refuge in Sweden, where he lived until the early 1950s.
Some paintings by Freddie were rather bold in plots and contradictory in meaning, therefore they were considered pornographic in the pre-war years and in the first two decades after the war. This led to the closure of exhibitions, the arrest of the author and repeated confiscation of works. Their artistic merits were subsequently recognized; the state galleries and museums of Denmark and other countries began to acquire the works of the master for their collections.
Art historians rightly believe that Dane Wilhelm Freddie awarded the highest award of the Academy of Arts, the Torvaldzen Medal, in 1970, should be named first among Scandinavian Surrealists. He was one of the few Surrealists, whose works were filled not only with fantasy, but also with deep ideological and moral content.
Key ideas:
– The young man knew everything about such new art movements as Cubism and Futurism, Abstract art and Expressionism. He created his first works after student impressionistic landscapes as abstract geometric images in the late 1920s.
– The beginning artist learnt about the paintings of Surrealists from the magazine «La Révolution Surréaliste». He was especially impressed by Dali’s paintings and soon adopted the figurative language of Dali with its meditation and images from dreams. One of the features of his works was outright sexuality of images; the second feature was the anti-Nazi theme of the plots.
– The art technique of William Freddie can be consistently divided into several phases. In the decade from the mid-1930s, these are “illusionistic” paintings with soft sensual forms. Wilhelm began to experiment with objects, making picturesque ensembles and collages of different objects and showing an unbridled, often erotic fantasy.
– The next esoteric period is characterized, among other things, by occult themes and images of the sun, moon and fire, as well as by an attempt to mask the content deeply.
– The style of his paintings changed in 1954 – they again got expressive sensuality, complemented by humor, self-irony, and sometimes drama.
– In the last decades, the formal language of his paintings was considerably simplified, the compositions acquired flatness, and the female anatomy began to be combined with geometric elements. The artist returned to abstraction.
1909
1923
1936
1937
1938
1944
1945
1949
1959
1961
1965
1970
1995
The artist was born
Studied painting
. Studied carving for one and a half years, as well as paintings by artists K. Budtz-Moller and H. Helmes, but did not finish the course. By and large, the naturally talented artist remained self-taught.
Freddie was invited with his works to the New Burlington Gallery
After participating in the opening day of the “Young Swedish Art” at the House of Artists of Oslo, Freddie was invited with his works to the New Burlington Gallery (London), where paintings by Picasso, Ernst and Dali were exhibited. However, viewers did not see most of the paintings, as they were too vulgar. The artist exhibited his paintings at the large show “Dada, Surrealism and Fantastic Art”, held in New York, the USA.
The artist was fined
His anti-Nazi paintings and works with erotic content were confiscated from the exhibition (including the Sex-paralysappeal object). The artist was fined, arrested and spent 10 days in prison with the wording “for pornography”. The other work – “Meditation on anti-Nazi love” – led to a ban on entry to Germany.
The artist's works were exhibited at the Paris gallery Beaux-Arts
After the exhibition “Surrealism in the Scandinavian region” held in Lund and the show in London, the artist’s works were exhibited at the Paris gallery Beaux-Arts and received high reviews from French critics. Two years later, the Helsinki Theater staged Friedde’s ballet “The triumph of love”.
He lived in Sweden
The artist with bright anti-fascist views had to leave Denmark and wait for the end of the war in Sweden, where he lived until 1950.
Designed a surreal exhibition in Stockholm
Designed a surreal exhibition in Stockholm. He worked as an architect and designer of exhibitions in Copenhagen. Participated in the collective exhibition “Modernism” in Halmstad and in Gummonsons Konsthall, Stockholm.
Wilhelm Friedde produced two shot films
. Wilhelm Friedde produced two shot films – “The Final Rejection of a Kiss Request” (with Jorgen Ruos) and “Edible Horizons”.
Freddie was invited to an exhibition in Milan
Freddie was invited to an exhibition in Milan and asked that the works confiscated in 1937 be returned to him. Having received a negative response from the Criminal Museum, he executed copies of the arrested works and included them in the Milan exhibition.
Presented copies of his three previously seized works in his motherland
Presented copies of his three previously seized works in his motherland; however, they were confiscated again – the Crime Museum doubled its collection of works by Freddie. The works were returned to the author only in 1963, when the trial ended in his favor.
The National Art Foundation bought the painting “Venetian Rock and Roll” by Friedde
An actual breakthrough occurred in Denmark towards the recognition of the artist’s art – the National Art Foundation bought the painting “Venetian Rock and Roll” by Friedde. In the following years, the artist made creative trips to Japan, Nepal, Hong Kong and India.
He was awarded the Thorvaldzen medal by the Academy of Arts
He was awarded the Thorvaldzen medal by the Academy of Arts; in 1973, he was appointed Professor of the Academy. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm bought a copy of the Sex Paralysappeal; the original is in the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum and is its official business card.
The artist died
Wilhelm Freddie died on October 26, 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark.