Johannes Carstensen

JOHANNES CARSTENSEN (Denmark, 1924-2020).
"Still life of fruits and objects", 1988.
Oil on canvas.
Recently cleaned by an expert restorer.
With Corner 1989 exhibition stamp.
Measurements: 79 x 95 cm; 83 x 99 cm (frame).

In this still life, Johannes Carstensen deploys a rigorously studied composition as for chromatic palette and formal disposition, looking for an essential reduction of each element, stylizing them and economizing the language until bordering on abstraction but maintaining the minimum that makes each object recognizable. He applied this approach in much of his work, which often flirted on the borderline between figuration and abstraction.

Johannes Carstensen studied painting with Aksel Jørgensen at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His travels in Italy (1951) and France, Spain and North Africa (1953) were key in his evolution. In the 1950s, influenced by Jørgensen and Erik Hoppe, his work was characterized by dark earthy tones, although his landscapes already showed reddish and orange tones. Contact with Georges Braque and Van Gogh in France led him to a neo-Impressionist approach. From the 1960s, after moving to Odsherred and collaborating with Karl Bovin and the Odsherred Painters, his landscapes became more luminous and he adopted a pointillist style. He was a member of important artistic groups such as Grønningen (1958), Corner (1970) and Koloristerne (1992).