Carl-Henning Pedersen
Encyclopedia
Carl-Henning Pedersen was a Danish
painter
and a key member of the COBRA movement
. He was known as the "Scandinavia
n Chagall
", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th century.
Pedersen was born in Copenhagen
and brought up in the poor area near Vigerslev Alle. He held radical political beliefs. He joined the International Folk High School in Elsinore
in 1933, where he met self-taught painter Else Alfelt
. They married in 1934, and their first daughter, Vibeke Alfelt, was born later that year. Alfelt encouraged Pedersen to paint, and he first exhibited at the Artists' Autumn Exhibition (Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling) in Copenhagen in 1936, where he showed four abstract works. His modernist
style was at odds with the socialist realism
preferred by his communist friends, who snubbed him: he argued with Bertolt Brecht
about his art. His abstract works, with flat planes of colour, emulated the works of cubists and of Paul Klee
.
Pedersen travelled on foot to Paris
in 1939, where he saw works by Picasso and Matisse. He visited the exhibition of "degenerate art
" (entartete Kunst) in Frankfurt am Main on his way home, where he was inspired by the paintings on show, particularly the works of Chagall, which remained a strong influence on his art for the rest of his life. His second daughter, Kari-Nina, was born in 1940. He joined the Høst group during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, writing about medieval Danish murals for its journal, Helhesten, and continued to produce seditiously
modern abstract works.
He and his wife were founder members of the CoBrA movement in 1948. The movement took its name from the European cities where its founders were based: Copenhagen
, Brussels
and Amsterdam
. They remaining with the group until it dissolved in 1951, producing free-form, spontaneous images in strong, fantastic colours. He won the Eckersberg Award in 1950 and the Guggenheim Award in 1958. A retrospective was put on at the Carnegie Institute
in Pittsburgh in 1961, and he was Denmark's representative at the Venice Biennale
in 1962. He won the Thorvaldsen Medal
ion 1963.
Pedersen moved into monumental art in the 1960s and 1970s, producing a large mosaic
, "Cosmic Sea", for the H. C. Ørsted Institute at Copenhagen University, and a huge tiled wall decoration, "Fantasy Play Around the Wheel of Life", for the Angli courtyard in Herning
.
Else Alfelt died in 1974. Notorious for resisting selling his works, he donated thousands to the Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt Museum, which opened in Herning in 1976. Further works were donated to the Danish National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst) in early 2007.
He moved to Burgundy
in the 1980s, but most of his work still came from Danish sources. He surprised many when he worked on the redecoration of the Gothic cathedral in Ribe
, working on the murals, painted glass and mosaics to illustrate Bible
stories from 1983 to 1987. He also produced bronze sculptures, and works in oils and watercolour.
He died in Copenhagen
, after a long illness. He was survived by his second wife, Sidsel Ramson.
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...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and a key member of the COBRA movement
COBRA (avant-garde movement)
COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen , Brussels , Amsterdam .-History:...
. He was known as the "Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th century.
Pedersen was born in 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...
and brought up in the poor area near Vigerslev Alle. He held radical political beliefs. He joined the International Folk High School in Elsinore
Elsinore
Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...
in 1933, where he met self-taught painter Else Alfelt
Else Alfelt
Else Alfelt was a painter who was born and died in Copenhagen. She was one of the two women in the CoBrA. She was married to Carl-Henning Pedersen, also a veteran of CoBrA....
. They married in 1934, and their first daughter, Vibeke Alfelt, was born later that year. Alfelt encouraged Pedersen to paint, and he first exhibited at the Artists' Autumn Exhibition (Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling) in Copenhagen in 1936, where he showed four abstract works. His modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
style was at odds with the socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
preferred by his communist friends, who snubbed him: he argued with Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
about his art. His abstract works, with flat planes of colour, emulated the works of cubists and of Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
.
Pedersen travelled on foot to 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...
in 1939, where he saw works by Picasso and Matisse. He visited the exhibition of "degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" (entartete Kunst) in Frankfurt am Main on his way home, where he was inspired by the paintings on show, particularly the works of Chagall, which remained a strong influence on his art for the rest of his life. His second daughter, Kari-Nina, was born in 1940. He joined the Høst group during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, writing about medieval Danish murals for its journal, Helhesten, and continued to produce seditiously
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
modern abstract works.
He and his wife were founder members of the CoBrA movement in 1948. The movement took its name from the European cities where its founders were based: 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...
, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. They remaining with the group until it dissolved in 1951, producing free-form, spontaneous images in strong, fantastic colours. He won the Eckersberg Award in 1950 and the Guggenheim Award in 1958. A retrospective was put on at the Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
in Pittsburgh in 1961, and he was Denmark's representative at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 1962. He won the Thorvaldsen Medal
Thorvaldsen Medal
The Thorvaldsen Medal is awarded annually with few exceptions to a varying number of recipients by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and is its highest destinction within the visual arts...
ion 1963.
Pedersen moved into monumental art in the 1960s and 1970s, producing a large mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
, "Cosmic Sea", for the H. C. Ørsted Institute at Copenhagen University, and a huge tiled wall decoration, "Fantasy Play Around the Wheel of Life", for the Angli courtyard in Herning
Herning
Herning Municipality is a municipality in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,336 km² and a total population of 84,208...
.
Else Alfelt died in 1974. Notorious for resisting selling his works, he donated thousands to the Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt Museum, which opened in Herning in 1976. Further works were donated to the Danish National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst) in early 2007.
He moved to Burgundy
Bourgogne
Burgundy is one of the 27 regions of France.The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people who settled in the area in early Middle-age. The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern...
in the 1980s, but most of his work still came from Danish sources. He surprised many when he worked on the redecoration of the Gothic cathedral in Ribe
Ribe
Ribe , the oldest extant Danish town, is in southwest Jutland and has a population of 8,192 . Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding municipality, and county...
, working on the murals, painted glass and mosaics to illustrate Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
stories from 1983 to 1987. He also produced bronze sculptures, and works in oils and watercolour.
He died in 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...
, after a long illness. He was survived by his second wife, Sidsel Ramson.