Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danishsculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. Utzon-Frank was son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon. Anna Cathrine was sister to the grandfather of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jørn Utzon.
Career
Einar Utzon-Frank was born in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen in 1888,[2] the son of Jens Christian Frank and Anna Cathrine Utzon.[3]
Utzon-Frank began his artistic life as a painter but changed direction to become a sculptor.[4] He was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1906,[5] where he became a close friend of the somewhat older Kai Nielsen. However, the two friends followed diverging paths through their creative careers, with Nielsen following a lush modernism in contrast to Utzon-Frank's clear, cool classical style which follows the tradition of Bertel Thorvaldsen.[6]
From 1912 to 1913 Utzen-Frank travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Florence, Rome, Naples, Paestum, Paris and later Italy, Greece and England,[7] and many of the classical influences from his travels are evident in his work.
In 1918 at the age of 30, Utzon-Frank was appointed a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen, a post in which he remained until 1955.[4] In his teaching, he laid emphasis on solid craftsmanship skills. He was a teacher and educator of great importance and came to dominate several generations of sculptors, including Henry Heerup, Sigrid Lütken, Janus Kamban, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, Gestur Þorgrímsson[11] and Douglas Robertson Bisset.[12]
Private life
Utzon-Frank married Gerda Harriet Margrete Christensen on 4 December 1908.[6] Their daughter Grete Utzon Frank was born on 8 February 1909 in Copenhagen, and she married painter and author William Flemming Bergsøe on 21 March 1930.[13]
^Hjalmar Friis (1933), Rytterstatuens historie i Europa fra oldtiden indtil Thorvaldsen (in Danish), Copenhagen: Gyldendal
^Vagn Poulsen; Erik Lassen; Jan Danielsen, eds. (1973), "Abraham-César Lamoureux", Dansk kunsthistorie: Billedkunst og skulptur (in Danish), vol. 2, Copenhagen: Politikens Forlag, p. 311