Karl Madsen

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Karl Madsen

Carl Johan Wilhelm Madsen, commonly known as Karl Madsen, (22 March 1855 – 16 April 1938) was a Danish painter and

art historian with close connections to the Skagen Painters
.

Early life and education

Born in Copenhagen on 22 March 1855, Madsen was the son of painters Andreas Peter Madsen and Sophie Thorsøe Madsen. He completed his schooling at Sorø Academy before attending C.V. Nielsen's art school in 1871. From 1872 to 1876, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He was a student of Vilhelm Kyhn and of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1876–1879).

Career

Sketch of Hornbæk with church (1885)
La ville hue ved Saint Briac i Bretagne (1878)

Madsen was greatly influenced in the early 1860s by the

Danish art and on disappointing conditions at the Art Academy. In 1871, Drachmann went to Skagen, a fishing village at the northernmost tip of Jutland
, to paint outdoor scenes and the local fishermen. Almost simultaneously, Madsen also arrived in Skagen.

During his first year at the Art Academy, he met

Naturalists
.

The gap between Madsen and the trends of the times as well as his own economic problems were probably behind his decision to become a professional writer. On Drachmann's recommendation, he became an art critic with Dagavisen in 1881. As a frequent contributor to Politiken and other periodicals, including Tilskueren,[1] he became one of Denmark's most influential art commentators and critics. He was a champion of Dutch art and wrote Japansk Malerkunst (1885), a pioneering book on the art of Japan.

As a museum expert, Madsen became recognized as an authority on Dutch art and brought about a reassessment of Danish art in the first half of the 19th century, especially with his biography of

Statens Museum for Kunst from 1911 to 1925,[2] and director of Skagens Museum from 1928 to 1938.[3]

Madsen received an honorary doctorate at Lund University and became a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1909 and Commander 2nd Class in 1925.

Personal life

Karl Madsen by Viggo Madsen (1900)
Madsen's second wife, Thora Juliane Madsen, painted by Elisabeth Wandel in 1890

Madsen married twice. He married his first wife Johanne Henriette Møller on 3 June 1880 but she died on 9 March the following year during the birth of their first child. He then married Thora Juliane Nielsen (5 August 1858 – 9 December 1929) on 4 July 1883. They had four children, two sons and two daughters.

Madsen's son by his first wife, Henry Sofus Madsen (1881–1921) was an egyptologist, journalist and editor. Another son, Svend Viggo Madsen (1885–1954) was also a painter. His elder daughter, Sofie Madsen (1887–1965) married the painter Arne Lofthus[4] Madsen died on 16 April 1938 and was buried in Assistens Cemetery.[5]

References

  1. JSTOR 871889
    .
  2. ^ "Karl Madsen", Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilback kunstnerleksikon, (in Danish) Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  3. ^ "Karl Madsen", Den store Danske, (in Danish) Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Karl Madsen" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Karl Madsen" (in Danish). gravsted.dk. Retrieved 14 April 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karl Madsen.
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