KAY CHRISTENSEN

(Danish 1899-1981)

VIEW OF THE SEINE AND THE PONT MARIE

Oil on Canvas

19¾ x 25¾ Inches

Signed Lower Right, "Kay"

Dated, Verso, "27 October 1948" and Titled, "Paris"

 

A serene, Parisian cityscape showing an aerial perspective of the Seine and the Île Saint-Louis viewed from above the Quai des Célestins, and looking towards the Île de la Cité and Notre Dame in the distance.

 

This early Danish Post-Impressionist artist first studied with Marie Sandholt and Astrid Holm at the Copenhagen Art Academy and, subsequently, at the School of Graphics (1929-31). Christensen continued his studies while traveling widely in Europe, including to Germany and Austria (1913-14), Paris (1917-23) and to Budapest and Vienna (1934). In 1935, he was awarded the Michaelsen Scholarship which enabled him to remain in Paris during the late 1930's. During intense period of development and creativity, he moved away from the bold colors and defined forms of his earlier Fauve and Cubist periods and began to explore the creation of predominantly single-color works, often in blues or greens accented with subtle shades of white. After the Second World War, he returned frequently to paint in Paris.

 

Kay Christensen, like his friend, Rainer Maria Rilke, followed a solitary artistic path in which his imagery was characterized by a personal aesthetic of sensuality combined with a spirited boldness and expressive force. He exhibited internationally with success and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. Christensen's work is held in private and public collections including the State Art Museum of Denmark and Copenhagen's Metropolitan Museum, among others. We are pleased to offer this lyrical perspective of the Seine, the Pont Marie and the Île Saint-Louis painted when the artist was forty-nine years old.

 

Reference:

E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 3, p. 619; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 1, p. 437; et al.