'River Landscape, Provence' by Karl Larsen, 1922; Salon D'Automne, Paris, Benezit, Charlottenborg, Oslo Museums

Description

Signed lower left, 'Karl Larsen' (Danish, nd dated 1922; additionally inscribed and stamped verso with provenance information.
Provenance: Formerly in … more Signed lower left, 'Karl Larsen' (Danish, nd dated 1922; additionally inscribed and stamped verso with provenance information.
Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Carl Clausen, Paris & Copenhagen.
Stretcher stamped with art materials supplier's name 'Leon Berville', 25, Rue de la Chaussee, Paris.

From 1917, Karl Larsen participated in numerous exhibitions in France and Denmark including the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (1919-20), the Salon d'Automne, Paris (1922) and the Scandinavian-French exhibition at Maison Watteau, Paris (1923). Larsen's name is strongly linked with the avant-garde group, 'The Four', (Larsen, Lundstrom, Axel Salto, Johansen) who represented the cutting-edge of Modernism and introduced the principles of Post-Impressionism from France to Denmark in the 1920's. With the help of scholarships, (Stoltenberg, 1921 and Zach. Jacobsen, 1924), Larsen remained in Paris, studying and painting from 1923-27. In 1926, he received the Academy Fellowship and, in 1929, he was awarded the Vilhelm Pacht studio apartment for life which enabled him to continue painting without concern for public approval. In his later years, he was also sought after as a portrait painter. Larsen also mastered and taught a variety of other media including sculpture, graphics, marquetry, mosaic and stained glass. Karl Larsen is among the most prominent of Denmark's early-20th-century Modernists and his work may be found in the permanent collections of numerous national museums including the National Museum of Art, The Museum of Art and Design and the National Gallery in Oslo.

Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 8, p. 293-294; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 3, p. 176; Weilbach, Dansk Kunstnerleksikon, the Castle and Cultural Agency, Copenhagen; et al. less