PHILIPSEN, Theodor Esbern

Danish painter, sculptor and draughtsman. He studied at the Kongelige Akademi for de Skønne Kunster, Copenhagen, in 1862-63 and 1865-69, and in Paris under Léon Bonnat in 1875-76. He was an important figure in the development and renewal of Danish naturalism, linking the Danish Golden Age tradition with new French ideas. Conscious of the importance of plein-air painting, he was first a great admirer of the Barbizon school; later he was influenced by the Impressionists, becoming the only truly Danish Impressionist. Frequent visits abroad helped him develop his outlook; he eagerly studied the Old Masters, and the strong light of the south.

Philipsen’s first encounter with the French impressionists dates back to his first period in Paris from 1874 to 1876, where it is very likely that he visited the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. Even so, during this sojourn in Paris he was most impressed by the Barbizon painters Theodore Rousseau, Constant Troyon, and perhaps especially Jean-François Millet. In fact, another six years would pass before the first traces of true Impressionist influences manifest themselves in Philipsen’s work. They do so in the years 1882-84 during a prolonged sojourn abroad that first took Philipsen to Paris where he saw the seventh Impressionist exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel. From Paris he went on to Andalusia, from there to Tunis in North Africa and then onwards to Rome and Sora. During this period he created a number of pictures that have accurately been described as proto-Impressionist. Philipsen cemented his links with impressionism in 1889 with his participation in the exhibition Nordic and French Impressionists.

In terms of technique and renditions of light and atmosphere, Philipsen shares a kinship with Pissarro and Monet, but his originality resides in his ability to adapt and develop the Impressionist palette in accordance with the Danish countryside and weather.

Philipsen is one of the most widely travelled and well-oriented Danish artists. He himself preferred to retreat from modern life, but his welcoming attitude towards young artists and open-mindedness regarding the latest arts made him a highly respected and central figure within Danish art.