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Gerhard Henning (GH) (1880-1967)

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Gerhard Henning (1880-1967)

Født Stockholm, 27-05-1880 - Hellerup, 16-09-1967.  Kom i malerlærer. Som ung kunstner blev han påvirket af vennen Ivar Arosenius som han mødte på Slöjdföreningens Skole i Göteborg 1897-98 -  kredsen omkring Arosenius, var inspireret af Aubrey Beardsley. Han flyttede fra Sverige til Danmark i 1909 og blev dansk statsborger i 1931. I 1909 blev han ansat på Den kgl. Porcelænsfabrik, og hermed fik det plastiske arbejde en større vægt. Hans første arbejder med ornamental dekoration i overglasur, var stilistisk påvirket af fransk 1700-tals kunst. Men efter at være blevet ven med Kai Nielsen og sammen med ham studeret skulptur, fortrinsvis på Glyptoteket, ændredes hans formudtryk. Igennem hele karrieren var den kvindelige krop en stor inspirationskilde og yndlingstema. Ansat på Den kgl. Porcelænsfabrik okt. 1909-14, 1920-25.

Gerhard Henning (1880-1967)

Born in Stockholm, 27-05-1880 - Hellerup, 16-09-1967. He was trained as painter. As an juvenile artist he was influenced by his friend - the Swedish Artist Ivar Arosenius , who he met in Gothenburg 1897-98 and worked with painting and graphic art under inspiration of Aubrey Beardsley. He moved to Denmark in 1909 and he became Danish citizen in 1931. In 1909 he was employed at the Royal Copenhagen factory. At Royal Copenhagen he created several figural groups with ornamental decoration in overglaze inspired by 1700 century French art. There is great difference between the earlier works and the monumental arts he later created in stone and bronze. His friend, the sculptor Kai Nielsen, helped him to break away from his earlier fin-de siècle style. Throughout his career the female body remained his favorite subject. Worked at the Royal Copenhagen Manufactory in two periods 1909-14, 1920-25.

Gerhard Henning (1880--1967)  

Gerhard Henning var født i Stockholm, men bosatte sig fast i Danmark i 1909 og fik dansk statsborgerskab i 1931. Forældrene satte ham i malerlære, men i 1899 søgte han ind på det svenske Kunstakademis skole i Stockholm, hvor han afvistes. Efter nogen tid på en privat kunstskole rejste han i 1903 til Italien og derfra til Paris i 1904. Under et ophold i København knyttedes han til Den kongelige Porcelainsfabrik og virkede her i to perioder, 1909-1914 og 1920-1925.  

Gerhard Hennings kunstneriske løbebane er bemærkelsesværdig. Der er uhyre afstand mellem hans første arbejder  og den monumentale kunst, han siden skabte i sten og bronze, efter at han, hjulpet af sin ven, billedhuggeren Kai Nielsen og under indflydelse af Auguste Rodin, havde brudt med sin oprindelige fin-de-siecle stil. Han blev en selvstændig og banebrydende kunstner og i anerkendelse heraf udnævnt til udenlandsk medlem af det svenske Akademi - blot en af mange hædersbevisninger, der blev ham til del. Ved sin død havde han allerede i mange år stået som en af Skandinaviens største billedhuggere.

I kataloger er figurerne ordnet efter genre og stil, ikke kronologisk, men sammenholder man tilblivelsesårene, vil man se, at allerede i årene 1909-1914 brødes to modsætninger om overtaget. Samtidig med de delikat udførte, detaillerede, rigt ornamenterede figurer, der var hans højst personlige og originale bidrag til jugendstilens slutfase, fremkom han med figurer, der var enklere og roligere i holdningen, og som varslede om den vej, han senere skulle slå ind på.  

Under alle forhold forblev det kvindelige legemes skønhed en uudtømmelig kilde til inspiration for Gerhard Henning. Kvinden var livet igennem hans foretrukne emne, hvilket klart vil fremgå af de følgende illustrationer.

Gerhard Henning (1880--1967)  

Gerhard Henning was born in Stockholm, taking up permanent residence in Denmark in 1909. In 1931 he became a naturalized Danish citizen. Having been trained as a house decorator he tried in 1899 to gain admittance to the Swedish Academy of Arts School in Stockholm, only to be turned down. After a period at a private art school, he travelled in 1903 to Italy and thence to Paris in 1904. During a stay in Copenhagen he joined The Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory, where he worked during the years 1909-1914 and again from 1920-1925.  

Gerhard Henning had a remarkable artistic career. There is a vast difference between his earlier works and the monumental art he later created in stone and bronze, after he - he1ped by his friend, the scu1ptor Kai Nielsen and under the influence of Auguste Rodin - had broken away from his earlier fin-de-siecle style. Henning became an independent artist, a pioneer in his field, in recognition of which he was appointed foreign member of the Swedish Academy ­just one of the many honours he received. He was considered one of Scandinavia's greatest scu1ptors 10ng before his death in 1967.  

In the catalogues Gerhard Henning's figures are presented according to genre and style. If, however, one takes the trouble to compare his works from a chronological point of view it becomes obvious that already during his first period at the factory 1909-1914 he was in a state of transition, torn between two conflicting strains fighting for dominance in his work. At the same time as producing minutely detailed, richly ornamented figures - his own, highly personal contribution to the last phase of art nouveau - there appeared figurines from his hand which were more simple of line, more straightforward and peaceful of posture, anticipating the style Henning was later to adopt.

Throughout his career the fema1e body remained his favourite subject. To him woman was an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Prinsessen på Ærten

Prinsessen på Ærten er i henseende til dekorationsteknik et højdepunkt i Den kongelige Porcelainsfabriks produktion. Det tager 7-8 måneder at fremstille figuren, heraf medgår alene 6-7 måneder til dekorationen.  

Emnet er hentet fra H. C. Andersens eventyr af samme navn, hvor forfatteren med forsonende humor, men dog med slet skjult ironi harcelerer over visse sider af samtidens opfattelse af fornemhed. Som man vil erindre, var prinsessen så ømskindet, at hun blev »ganske brun og blå over hele sin Krop« af at ligge natten over på en ært dækket af tyve madrasser og tyve edderdunsdyne r. Netop dette overbeviste enhver om, at hun var en virkelig prinsesse.

Emnet passede til Gerhard Hennings stil i hans første udviklingsstade som billedhugger, da han dyrkede det delikat forfinede og den minutiøst gennemførte detalje. Prinsessen på Ærten et hovedværk i hans første periode på fabrikken 1909-1914.  

I eventyret kan alting ske, og H. C. Andersens fortælling gav hans fantasi frit spillerum, der ikke begrænses til karakterisering af prinsessens næsten overjordiske forfinethed. På skulpturens talrige overflader skildres en kalejdoskopisk drømmeverden østen for solen og vesten for månen, der kunne være hentet fra 1001 Nats Eventyr. Her ses kinesiske drager, svævende persiske krigere med draget sværd, legende børn, en knælende østens rigmand, haremskvinder, alt omgivet af rig ornamentik.

Prinsessen på Ærten udførtes første gang 1911. Året efter tildeltes den 1. kl. medalje på Salonen i Paris, hvor den blev alment anerkendt som et af Europas fineste porcelænsarbejder.

Ali og Peribanu

Inspirationen til denne figur hentede Gerhard Henning fra 1001 Nats Eventyr, hvor der fortælles om Ali og feen Peribanu. Overhovedet satte det Fjerne østens kunst hans fantasi i bevægelse, hvilket satte sig præg på alle hans figurer

The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea represents a peak of decorative art in the annals of The Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory's production. It takes same seven or eight months to produce the final figure, same six months alone being taken up in its decoration.  

The subject derives from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name. In the story Andersen mocks certain concepts of distinction and rank prevalent in the society of his time with a gentle but obvious irony. It will be recalled that the princess was so sensitive that she became "black and blue all over" after lying on a bed composed of twenty mattresses and twenty eiderdowns, under which there was a pea. Just this quality made everyone believe that she was a real princess.  

The Princess on the Pea is a major work of Gerhard Henning’s first period at the factory (1909-1914). The subject was ideally suited to his style at that time when he indulged in a meticulously delicate and refined attention to detail. Andersen's tale gave free rein to Gerhard Henning's imagination which went far beyond a mere characterisation of the princess' almost ethereal delicacy. A kaleidoscopic dream world is depicted on the many surfaces of the sculpture, a dream world straight from the pages of the One Thousand and One Nights. There are Chinese dragons, Persian warriors with swords at the ready, children at play, odalisques abound ­all set in a rich ornamentation.

The figure was first executed in 1911. In the following year it was awarded the 1st Class Medal at the Salon in Paris, where it was generally deemed to be one of the finest pieces of European porcelain of the period.

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