Jørgen Luplau Janssen

Jørgen Luplau-Janssen 

( 1869-1927)

Danish impressionist painter, professor and unexpected printmaker.

(with his first first wife Marie Borup)

Ebay keeps astonishing me because of the regular washing up of unknown prints and sometimes unknown printmakers. Like these two prints.      

Jørgen Luplau Janssen was educated at the Royal academy of arts in 1885 and joined Peder Krøyer (1851-1909) in his painting school in 1891 for further training. In 1909 he went to Paris to study at the Académie Ranon. He became a well respected painter of landscape and portrait of which is Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1831-1855) the most celebrated. 

I presume the print is showing a (Danish ?) soldier or guard watching dreadnoughts of the German navy Hoch-see fleet on the horizon. 

I have no doubt Luplau-Janssen's endeavors at woodblock printing will have been inspired by his fellow Danish colleague Emil (Hansen) Nolde (1867-1956) who, initially trained as a traditional wood-engraver (xylograph) and after having studied and worked in Kopenhagen, Munich, St. Gallen and Paris (Academie Julian) returned to Kopenhagen in 1901 living in winter in Berlin. He even met and married his wife Ada Vilstrup (1879-1948) in Kopenhagen in 1902. Changing his name from Hansen in Nolde on the occasion.  In 1927 the painter printmaker returned to stay in the region where he was born. It was the year Luplau-Janssen died. Noldes' house and gardens, just on the German side of the Danish border are now a museum, his birthplace (the hamlet of Nolde) just on the other side.  

5 Dampfer (steamers) by Nolde 

In 1905 Lupla-Janssen was appointed professor at the Royal Academy in Kopenhagen where he taught in arts and model. Besides he was a keen amateur astronomer. His son Carl Luplau Janssen (1889-1971) the Danish astronomer.  

All pictures borrowed freely from the internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.