ArtistDanish
Jens Birkemose
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Jens Birkemose was born on 28 June 1943 in Denmark and died on 8 September 2022. Before he ever touched a canvas professionally, he spent his early years studying piano, music theory, and composition at the Copenhagen Conservatory. That detour through music would prove formative: the seeming randomness, the structured improvisation, and the influence of composer John Cage all found their way into his visual work later in life.
Birkemose went on to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen and then at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he specialized in both painting and printmaking. He relocated to Paris in 1976, making it his primary base for several decades. Extended travel in France and the United States deepened his exposure to American Abstract Expressionism and the New York School, whose energy and scale became lasting touchstones.
His paintings are large, physically assertive works built from dense, freely applied color. What looks purely abstract on first viewing is not: Birkemose embedded figures within the surface, demon-like creatures, birds, cats, and human forms, half-concealed beneath layers of paint. The discovery of these shapes is something the viewer earns through sustained looking.
From 1980 onward, Birkemose was a member of Decembristerne, a Danish artist group. His work entered the collections of Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen and Aarhus Kunstmuseum, and he exhibited internationally across his career. He returned to Denmark around 2010 after his long Paris residence.
In the Nordic auction market, Birkemose's work circulates steadily, with paintings making up the clear majority of lots. The strongest prices appear at Bukowskis and Stockholms Auktionsverk, where compositions in oil have reached 22,000 SEK. His 99 recorded auction appearances across Swedish houses confirm a consistent collector base, particularly in Sweden where he is better represented at auction than in Denmark.