User:Georgeskinner03/Aksel Lundgreen

Aksel Lundgreen was an established Danish Artist with a great variety of styles and image, he was also a prolific figure within his hometown of Aalborg throughout his lifetime.

Early life
Aksel Lundgreen was born at home to parents Karl Emil Lundgreen and Katrina Lundgreen on November 16th, 1908, in Aalborg Denmark. His father (Karl Emil Lundgreen) was an accomplished listed landscape artist who was known as the kings painter. Aksel Lundgreen was taught to paint by his father although later achieved an apprenticeship at Aalborg art school. Apart from painting Aksel Lundgreen at the age of 19 was a royal guard for King Christian X.

Travelling
Lundgreen travelled extensively through Denmark and Europe with his family and painted many pictures of many destinations throughout the continent. He is well known for his seascapes of the northern Danish towns of Løkken and Skagen along with many other oil based art representing his home country of Denmark.

Style
Lundgreen experimented with a large range of styles throughout his lifetime as an artist due to being exposed to many techniques because of his father and fellow painters in Aalborg, he would of been largely influenced by the 1920s in which important artistic innovations such as the Bauhaus Movement could have led to his most highly recognised modern style colourful abstract paintings (which he predominantly painted in the latter years of his life). As well as this Lundgreen further completed many watercolours and oil seascapes and cityscapes which are widely recognised.

Life in Aalborg
Lundgreen was a well respected person in his hometown of Aalborg, due to this during the second world war Aksel Lundgreen was part of the 'Christian den fjerdes laug', This guild was erected due to the annoyance of the citizens of Aalborg when German soldiers in large numbers would spends their evenings in Jens Bang's House. The guild handed keys to admirable people within Aalborg where they could privately confer with one another during a dark time. Lundgreen could be frequently seen painting around the city of Aalborg and would often have people approach him in order to purchase his artworks. in the 1930s Aksel Lundgreen and fellow accomplished painters Henning Knudsen and Hans Jørgen Korn had an idea to set up a studio together in the squat. The squat was a small alley in the middle of Aalborg, which no longer exists. In one of the small crooked houses, which at the time lay where the friends had wanted to decorate, this would of allowed for greater exposure of their artworks within the city.