Einar Utzon-Frank

Aksel (Axel) 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 many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. Utzon-Frank was son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon. Anna Cathrine was sister to the grandfather of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jørn Utzon.

The mobile, weather-forecasting sculpture The Weather Girls at the City Hall Square in Copenhagen
Aphrodite at the Arboretum Zürich in Switzerland[1]

Career

Einar Utzon-Frank was born in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen in 1888,[2] the son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon.[3]

Utzon-Frank began his artistic life as a painter but changed direction to become a sculptor.[4] He was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1906,[5] 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.[6]

From 1912 to 1913 Utzen-Frank travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Florence, Rome, Naples, Paestum, Paris and later Italy, Greece and England,[7] and many of the classical influences from his travels are evident in his work.

At the end of the 1930s he was commissioned to recast the Equestrian statue of Christian V — originally erected between 1687 and 1688 on Kongens Nytorv and made from gilded lead by Abraham-César Lamoureux [8]— in bronze, which he did between 1939 and 1942.[9] His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.[10]

Academia

In 1918 at the age of 30, Utzon-Frank was appointed a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen, a post in which he remained until 1955.[4] 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[11] and Douglas Robertson Bisset.[12]

Private life

Utzon-Frank married Gerda Harriet Margrete Christensen on 4 December 1908.[6] Their daughter Grete Utzon Frank was born on 8 February 1909 in Copenhagen, and she married painter and author William Flemming Bergsøe on 21 March 1930.[13]

Works

His best-known works include:[4]

See also

References

  1. "Vom Bürkliplatz zur Sukkulenten-Sammlung" (PDF) (in German). Arboretum Zürich. May 2006. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  2. Kulturarvsstyrelsen. "Artist: Einar Utzon-Frank". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  3. Anette Sørensen. "Einar Utzon-Frank - Genealogy". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  4. "Einar Utzon-Frank". gravsted.dk. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  5. Anette Sørensen. "Einar Utzon-Frank - Education". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  6. Anette Sørensen. "Einar Utzon-Frank - Biography". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  7. Anette Sørensen. "Einar Utzon-Frank - Travel". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  8. Hjalmar Friis (1933), Rytterstatuens historie i Europa fra oldtiden indtil Thorvaldsen (in Danish), Copenhagen: Gyldendal
  9. Vagn Poulsen; Erik Lassen; Jan Danielsen, eds. (1973), "Abraham-César Lamoureux", Dansk kunsthistorie: Billedkunst og skulptur (in Danish), 2, Copenhagen: Politikens Forlag, p. 311
  10. "Einar Utzon-Frank". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  11. "Gestur Þorgrímsson - "Tvíund"". Exhibitions Hafnarborg. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  12. Gary Nisbet. "Douglas Bisset (1908-2000)". Glasgow - City of Sculpture. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  13. Tom Smidth (2007). "Maler Og Forfatter Flemming Vilhelm Bergsøe". Slægtsside for Tom Smidth. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  14. "Recent Lots at Auction for Ejnar Utzon-Frank". Artinfo. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  15. Anette Sørensen. "Einar Utzon-Frank - Artworks". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
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