A Symbolic Tribute to Life
The visual artist Henry Heerup (1907-1993) can be described as the great humanist in Danish art, and he places some of the great existential questions under the microscope in his popular works. With a playful and whimsical eye for details, we are led into a fairy tale world populated by naked women, loving couples, pixies, cats and the wheel of life in his colourful works.
In a Danish context, Heerup stands as the master of vitality and symbolism. He is loved for his portrayal of the greatest themes and dramas of human existence in a straightforward visual style, where emotions, stages in life and the passage of time are communicated using widely established symbols. His works can collectively be described as a picturesque ode to life with all that it contains of both joys and sorrows.
Heerup was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1927-32 and came to occupy a unique place in Danish art history with his characteristic idiom and played a crucial role in the spread of prints as an art form. Heerup was not preoccupied with the changing trends in art and went his own ways. Nevertheless, over time he was part of various art associations, including Linien, Høst and not least CoBrA.
