Johan Frederik Clemens
Encyclopedia
Johan Frederik Clemens Danish
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...

 printmaker in etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...

, was born in Gollnow (now Goleniów
Goleniów
Goleniów is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,399 inhabitants . It is the capital of Goleniów County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Szczecin Voivodeship . Town area is 12.5 km², geographical situation 53°33'N and 14°49'E...

) near Stettin (now Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

) in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...

, to a poor Saxon
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 weaver, Johan David Clemens, and his wife Anna Francken. The father, along with his son Johan, moved to 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...

 when the boy was still quite young.

Training at the Academy

He sought to begin his training at the Royal Danish Academy of Art
Royal 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...

 (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) already in 1760 at the age of 11. He enrolled for training, but was rejected by Drawing Master Hans Clio as being too young and little. Sculptor Simon Carl Stanley
Simon Carl Stanley
Simon Carl Stanley was a sculptor and was born of English parents.When he showed as a boy feel like drawing and træskæring, put him apprentice with hofbilledhugger JC Sturmberg...

 took an interest in the child, and with his help Johan came into the School of Drawing in 1761. He trained both as a decorative painter, and as a craftsman painter.

In 1764 at the age of 15 Clemens was in training under an alcoholic painting master, where he was put to work with simple decorations work. When he became a painting apprentice he came into training at Johan Edvard Mandelberg
Johan Edvard Mandelberg
Johan Edvard Mandelberg , Swedish-born painter living in Denmark, was born at sea during a voyage between Stockholm and Livland, Sweden.- Mandelberg seeks training:...

’s studio. Mandelberg used many talented apprentices to carry out his numerous projects. It was here that Clemens came to know Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard
Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard
Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard , Danish artist, was born in Copenhagen, the son of Søren Abildgaard, an antiquarian draughtsman of repute, and Anne Margrethe Bastholm.- Training as an artist :...

, Frederik Ludvig Bradt, Johannes Samuel Lymann and other talented young talents from the Art Academy, some of whom would achieve great fame and position in the years to come.

In 1765 he had already won both the Academy’s small and large silver medallions. Jacques Saly
Jacques Saly
Jacques François Joseph Saly, also known as Jacques Saly , French-born sculptor who worked in France, Denmark, and Italy, was born in Valenciennes to Francois Marie Saly and wife Marie Michelle....

, the Academy’s Director, advised the boy to become a sculptor, but he was interested in becoming a copperplate etcher. He was recommended to train under Johan Martin Preisler, but Preisler showed no interest in him until Clemens made a print based on an etching by Jean Daullé
Jean Daullé
Jean Daullé, a French engraver, was born at Abbeville in 1703. He received his first lessons in engraving from Dom Robart, a monk of thepriory of St. Peter at Abbeville, and afterwards went to Paris, where his fellow-citizen, Robert Hecquet, taught him what little he himself knew. His merit did not...

. Impressed by this work, Preisler became Clemens’ devoted friend and protector. Clemens trained under Preisler between ca. 1769–1770.
He soon won another influential protector, theatrical painter Peter Cramer
Peter Cramer
Peter Cramer was a self-taught artist who prepared the drawings for the illustration of Norden's 'Travels in Egypt,' and then became a decorative and theatrical painter. Together with this occupation he executed popular Danish scenes in the style of Teniers, and several of his pictures were...

, who recommended him to sculptor Johannes Wiedewelt
Johannes Wiedewelt
Johannes Wiedewelt , Danish neoclassical sculptor, was born in Copenhagen to royal sculptor to the Danish Court, Just Wiedewelt, and his wife Birgitte Lauridsdatter...

. Clemens made etchings based on Wiedewelt’s illustrations for a deluxe edition of Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...

’s "Peder Paars" in 1772, giving the youngster a decent income in which to support himself and his father. Wiedewelt became his lifelong friend and patron, and additional book assignments followed closely.

Travel to Paris

With Wiedewelt’s help Clemens received a four-year travel stipend and was able to leave Copenhagen in 1774. We went directly 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...

, where he was influenced by the technique and style of Charles-Nicolas Cochin
Charles-Nicolas Cochin
Charles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune , Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils , or Charles-Nicolas Cochin II.-Early life:Cochin was born in Paris, the son of...

. Clemens was productive and etched many portraits during his stay in Paris. He also became engaged to Marie Jeanne Crevoisier
Marie Jeanne Clemens
Marie Jeanne Clemens, née Crévoisier was a French-Danish artist; engraver and pastell painter.She was a student and, from 1781, the spouse of the Danish artist Johann Friderich Clemens, with whom she moved to Denmark. She was inducted as an agrée to the Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1782.-...

 while there.

He developed such a glowing reputation as an artist in Paris that the Academy soon offered to take him on as a member, provided he produced a new, quality work for his application piece. At the same time his travel stipend was running out. He requested permission to stay, and was denied it because “certain important people” wanted Clemens to return to Copenhagen to etch plates for a royal project. Clemens ignored this order and remained, at least until he received a formal order to return. His friends in Copenhagen, however, managed to get him permission for a stopover in Switzerland on his travel home.

Clemens left Paris in 1777 along with Jens Juel
Jens Juel (painter)
Jens Juel was a Danish painter, primarily known for his many portraits, of which the largest collection is on display at Frederiksborg Castle.-Early life and career:...

 and Simon Malgo, and traveled to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, where he made vignette
Vignette (graphic design)
Vignettes, in graphic design, are decorative designs usually in books, used both to separate sections or chapters and to decorate borders.In Descriptive, or Analytical Bibliography for the hand-press period a vignette refers to an engraved design printed using a copper-plate press, on a page that...

s for Charles Bonnet
Charles Bonnet
Charles Bonnet , Swiss naturalist and philosophical writer, was born at Geneva, of a French family driven into Switzerland by the religious persecution in the 16th century.-Life and work:Bonnet's life was uneventful...

’s "Oeuvres d'histoire naturelle et de philosophie " and an etching based on Jens Juel’s
Jens Juel (painter)
Jens Juel was a Danish painter, primarily known for his many portraits, of which the largest collection is on display at Frederiksborg Castle.-Early life and career:...

 portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...

 of Bonnet. The portrait drew a lot of attention to Clemens’ skills, and led to a lifelong collaboration between the two artists.

Return to Copenhagen

He returned to Copenhagen in autumn 1778 where his elderly father was sick and decrepit.

In 1779 he was named royal engraver, with the helpful support of Wiedewelt, and received an annual wage by which he could support a family. Along with Juel, who was named to royal painter for the court the following year, he was kept busy making portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...

s for the royal family and nobility over the next ten years.

He returned to Paris to marry fiancée, Marie Jeanne Crevoisier on August 27, 1781. They moved together back to Copenhagen. He taught his new wife, already artistically inclined, the art of copperplate etching, and she became quite proficient at it. Marie Jeanne quickly fell into the Danish artistic milieu.

Clemens’ father died in 1782. That same year Marie Jeanne received an invitation of her own to join the Art Academy as pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....

 painter. She was one of the first women to receive the honor. She, however, never delivered her assigned submission work to the Academy, and therefore never fulfilled the conditions for membership.

Clemens achieved great notice during this period of time for etchings he created for two book assignments: a collection of Johannes Ewald
Johannes Ewald
Johannes Ewald was a Danish national dramatist and poet.-Biography:Ewald, normally regarded as the most important Danish poet of the 2nd half of the 18th Century, led a short and troubled life, marked by alcoholism and poor health...

’s works based on drawings of Abildgaard, begun in 1780, and another based on illustrations by his friend and patron, Wiedewelt in 1783. Clemens’ 1780 illustration for the first volume of Ewald’s work— for the dramatic piece "Adam and Eve"— was considered indecent, and led to a break in their collaboration for several years. The two continued their collaboration with "Socrates" (1786) and "Lykkens Tempel" ("The Temple of Happiness").

Clemens occupied a central position in that time’s artistic life and spirit, and was an avid participant in the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

’s scientific and philosophical discussions. During the 1780’s he collaborated with Abildgaard on a series of social, religious and political satires and critiques. Like Juel and Abildgaard he had close connections to contemporary political circles, and he and his wife were particularly close to Chamberlain and Court Marshal Johan Bülow.

Clemens was first accepted as member of the Academy in 1786 with the submission of etchings of "Kronprins Frederik" ("Crown Prince Frederik") and "Louise Augusta". With his enormous creative talent Clemens' reputation in Denmark grew, and he was in good company with his contemporaries Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard
Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard
Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard , Danish artist, was born in Copenhagen, the son of Søren Abildgaard, an antiquarian draughtsman of repute, and Anne Margrethe Bastholm.- Training as an artist :...

, Johan Martin Preisler, Johan Edvard Mandelberg
Johan Edvard Mandelberg
Johan Edvard Mandelberg , Swedish-born painter living in Denmark, was born at sea during a voyage between Stockholm and Livland, Sweden.- Mandelberg seeks training:...

, Johannes Wiedewelt
Johannes Wiedewelt
Johannes Wiedewelt , Danish neoclassical sculptor, was born in Copenhagen to royal sculptor to the Danish Court, Just Wiedewelt, and his wife Birgitte Lauridsdatter...

 and Jens Juel
Jens Juel (painter)
Jens Juel was a Danish painter, primarily known for his many portraits, of which the largest collection is on display at Frederiksborg Castle.-Early life and career:...

.

Assignments in Berlin and London

In 1787 Clemens was invited to 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...

 to make an etching based on a drawing by Englishman E.F. Cunningham, "Frederick the Great Riding Home After Manoeuvres at Potsdam". He received royal approval and traveled there the next year. He lived in Berlin for four years under less than agreeable circumstances, as Cunningham was difficult to work with. He received membership in the Academy in Berlin in 1788, and his works were exhibited at the Berlin Academy that same year.

In 1789 his engravings based on Abildgaards originals appeared in another Ludwig Holberg work "Niels Klim". His wife succumbed to tuberculosis in 1791 in Berlin, leaving behind a nine year old son. Two other children had died young.

When the Berlin assignment was completed Clemens traveled in 1792 with royal permission to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to work on a new etching based on John Trumbull
John Trumbull
John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings...

’s "Death of General Montgomery". This work brought him further commissions for prints based on several other paintings by Trumbull and Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...

.

He exhibited at the Charlottenborg Salon in Copenhagen for the first time in 1794, and again in 1815. In London he married Ann Rees in 1795.

His final years in Copenhagen

He returned to Denmark in 1795. He received an apartment at the Academy in 1797, and served as the Academy’s treasurer several times in the years to come.

His engraving "Slaget på Reden" (The Battle of Copenhagen) was created in 1801, and was based on a drawing by Christian August Lorentzen
Christian August Lorentzen
Christian August Lorentzen was a Danish painter. He was the instructor of Martinus Rørbye.-Biography:Christian August Lorentzen was born on 10 August 1749 as the son of a watchmaker. He arrived in Copenhagen around 1771 where he frequented the Royal Academy of Fine Arts but it is unclear whether...

. It pictured the battle led by Admiral Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

, part of the English
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...

 attack on Copenhagen (Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...

) during the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, which reached its high point on April 2, 1801. This engraving was very popular in its day and was a feature in many homes as a show of patriotism. It has also come to stand as the best and most reliable illustration of this battle today.

He was named professor in copperplate etching at the Academy in 1813 after being several times passed over, and finally extraordinary professor in the School of Model Painting in 1818 at the age of 70.

His second wife died in 1824. He exhibited at Charlottenborg several times during the 1820s. He died November 5, 1831, at the age of 81.

The fruits of a long life

He won himself many loyal supporters and good friends early on, among them two of the most important Danish artists of his time, Jens Juel and Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard, who were vital for him as an aspiring young engraver. Many of Clemens’ portraits are based on Juel’s originals.

He survived many of his contemporary artistic friends, some by several decades, and was able to establish himself with new generations of artists such as Lorentzen and Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig , to Henrik Vilhelm Eckersberg, painter and carpenter, and Ingeborg Nielsdatter...

. He made etchings based on several of their works. In his later years he experimented with lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...

, a printing technique which competed successfully against copperplate etching in the years to come.

He was skillful, persistent and ambitious, and used his social contacts to reach his goals. His total output comes to around 400 prints.
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