Sigurd Swane

Sigurd Swane (16 June 1879 – 9 April 1973) was a Danish painter and writer.

Swane was born in Frederiksberg. He studied in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1899 until 1903. In 1903 he made his official debut at the Charlottenborgs Forårsudstilling exhibition.

While in Paris in 1907, he was influenced by the work of the Fauves. On returning to Denmark, he painted a series of woodlands using greens, yellows and blues. His use of spots was soon replaced by more solid brushstrokes, with careful separation of colour, making him one of Denmark's foremost colourists.^[1] He also did portraits, still-lifes and some religious scenes, including many painted versions of "The Dream of Jacob".

In 1912 he published one of his best known collections of poems, Skyer (Clouds).

In 1915 he was among the organizers of the long-lasting Grønningen artists´ group.

His portraits are typified by wooded backgrounds as can be seen in the paintings of his brother Leo Swane (1908) and of Harald Giersing (1908).

Since 1934, he fulfilled his childhood dream of living in the country on a farm in Odsherred in the north-west of Zealand, where he completed a series of light-filled landscape paintings. From 1947 he often painted in Spain and Portugal. When travelling in Southern Europe, the family would use a converted truck as a living space.

Sigurd Swane died, aged 93, at his farm house, named Malergården, in the hamlet of Plejerup, not so far from Grevinge village. Malergården was also a residence for other Swane family members engaged in the arts. In 2004 the idyllic house and grounds were established as a museum, being a branch of the Odsherreds Kunstmuseum art museum ^[2]

His first wife Christine Swane (1876 - 1960), to whom he was married in 1910 - 1920, was also a painter. In 1921, he married his second wife Agnete Swane (1893 - 1994), likewise a painter but also with an interest in architecture. She designed the Malergården house in 1934 - 1936. The son Lars Swane and the daughters Gerda Swane and Hanne Swane were also painters. A second son, Henrik Swane, did some photography.

Sigurd Swane is well represented in Danish art museums and an acknowledged figure in 20th-century Danish art.

See also

• Odsherred Painters

References