'Apples on a Peacock Tablecloth' by Knud Agger, Copenhagen Royal Academy, São Paulo & Venice Biennales

Description

Signed lower right, 'Agger' for Knud Agger (Danish, 1895-1973) and painted circa 1940.

Born in Holstebro, Denmark, Knud Agger was … more Signed lower right, 'Agger' for Knud Agger (Danish, 1895-1973) and painted circa 1940.

Born in Holstebro, Denmark, Knud Agger was exposed at a young age to theories of art and painting by his uncle and a family friend, both of whom were local artists. In 1912, Agger moved to Copenhagen to pursue his education, studying at the Technical Institute of Copenhagen (1912-1915, with interruptions) and, in architecture, at the Copenhagen Royal Academy until 1917. Turning to painting in 1917, Agger's educational background provided him with a unique perspective in his self-education of Modernist theories and ideas, reading Curt Glaser's Munch book and Julius Meier-Graefe's book on van Gogh. Influenced first by the works of Julius Paulsen and Vilhelm Hammershøi, by the 1920s Agger had returned to his hometown of Holstebro and adopted Grønningen's French-oriented view of art. In 1929, Agger settled permanently in Helsingør.

In 1930, the painter Mogens Lorentzen organized Agger's first solo exhibition. From 1939, he pursued increasingly colorist painting, and, in the 1950s, began incorporating the use of stones from the beach of Venø into his art.

Agger exhibited widely and with success including at the Aalborg Art Museum (1966), in Oslo (1956), Aarhus (1957), the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (1922-24, 1928, 1931), at Copenhagen's Autumn Exhibition (1931), Grønningen (1932-33), the New Exhibition (1933), the Venice Biennale (1942, 1954) and the São Paulo Biennale (1953). He took numerous study trips abroad including to Sweden (1919-1921), Paris (1926), Amsterdam (1926), England (1928) and Norway (1957). Knud Agger was the recipient of numerous scholarships, medals prizes and juried awards including the Oluf Hartmann (1934), van Gogh (1938), Eckersberg Medal (1938), Queen Alexandra (1939), the Edvard Munch Prize (1938), the Free Exhibition Scholarship (1952), Zahrtmann (1960), the Ministry of Culture Lifetime Honorary Gift (1965) and Thorvaldsen's Medal (1971).

Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 1, page 101; Weilbach, Dansk Kunstnerleksikon, the Castle and Cultural Agency, Copenhagen; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 1, page 14; et al. less