GAD FREDERICK CLEMENT

(Danish, 1867-1933)

FROM THE GARDEN

Oil on Canvas

49¾ x 55½ Inches

Signed Lower Left, "Clement"

Titled, verso, on old exhibition label, 'Fra Haven' (From the Garden)

Additionally signed, verso, on stretcher bar and titled, 'Vesterby, Skagen'

 

Exhibited:

Skagen Museum, circa 1920, from label, verso.

'Helsinki Art Gallery, 1928', from label, verso.

'Danish Art Convention Forum, 1929', from label, verso.

 

Gad Clement created this radiant painting in the garden of the Vesterby beach house where he and his wife, the artist Martha 'Tupsy' Clement, summered from 1908-1920. This substantial and exhibited work shows Tupsy at her easel with their daughters, Bitten (b.1912) and Lillemor (b.1909). Fusing the ideal with the personal, Clement lyrically expresses both the bonds of maternity and the dreamland of childhood.

 

Clement first studied at Copenhagen's Technical School (1883–1885) before attending the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1885-1888). Returning to Denmark, he continued his studies under Laurits Tuxen and Kristian Zahrtmann. In 1892, Clement spent time with Gauguin and Serusier in Brittany and this Symbolist influence was evident in his earliest exhibits at Copenhagen's Charlottenborg Palace. From 1890, his annual visits to Italy led him to the works of the Italian masters, particularly those of Masaccio and Lorenzo di Credi. The handling of light and purity of color he admired in these early Renaissance paintings can increasingly be seen in his works after 1894. Towards the end of the century, Clement evolved a more relaxed and naturalistic style that combined Realism and Impressionism.

 

Over the course of a long career, Clement exhibited internationally with success including, from 1890, at the Charlottenborg Palace and, from 1893, at the Salon des Artistes Français. He was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards including an honorable mention at the Paris Universal Exposition (1900), and a Gold Medal from the Munich Academy (1909).

 

Reference:

E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 3, p. 699; Thieme-Becker Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zu Gengenwart, Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 7/8, p. 79-80; Weilbach, Dansk Kunstnerleksikon, the Castle and Cultural Agency, Copenhagen; The tower, feb. 1894; Pole. 17.4.1909 (N. Lützhøft); 24.4.1909; Kr. Zahrtmann, En; E. Hannover, Danische Kunst des 19. Jajrj., Leipzig 1907, p. 135; Kat. der Munchener Glaspal.-Ausst. 1909; "Kunstbladet" 1898 p. 149; et al.