LUPLAU JANSSEN
Danish 1869-1927

Biography

AVAILABLE WORKS

Luplau Janssen was born in 1869 in Sørbymagle on Sealand and was raised in the town rectory by his parents Louise Sofie and Carl Emil who was the parish priest. Luplau studied at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen where he later taught, as well as attending evening classes at the progressive P.S. Kroyer’s Painting School where he was influenced by the Impressionistic approach to light. He married Marie Borup in 1893.

Janssen’s debut at the Danish Royal Academy Spring Exhibition at Charlottenborg brought him much praise, including awards in 1894, 1896 and 1898. He exhibited extensively including at the Danish Royal Academy until 1902, then the Free Exhibition and the Secession, Berlin. In 1909 he travelled to Paris where he attended the Academy Ranon. He separated from his first wife Marie and began a relationship with the artist Ingeborg Madsen, whom he married in 1910. He exhibited at The Seccession in Berlin until 1927, alongside accomplished artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cezanne, and Gustav Klimt. Janssen returned to Denmark but travelled extensively including trips to Rome, Berlin, Northern Italy and Munich, followed by Greenland in 1925.

Luplau Janssen was known as a skilled figure and portrait artist, as well as for his landscapes and decorative subjects. His portraits of children and his ability to capture intimate domestic settings were particularly popular. Janssen’s work can be found in the Frederiksborg Museum including a portrait from the funeral of Christian IX.

During the 18th and 19th centuries Denmark saw the working class as crucial to developing a strong society and competitive economy, and was one of the earliest countries to create public schools. Janssen was part of the Modern Breakthrough movement, a strong movement of naturalism which replaced romanticism at the end of the 19th century. This group of authors and artists were important players in education reform.