ArtistDanishb.1951
Johnny Madsen
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Born in Thyboron on Denmark's windswept North Sea coast in 1951, Johnny Madsen spent decades living between two art forms - music and painting - without treating either as secondary. He settled on the island of Fanø, where he eventually opened his own gallery, Madsens Malerier, and painted almost daily until his death in November 2024. The island's light and isolation fed both practices.
Madsen was self-taught as a painter, which shows in his work in the best possible way. He named Vincent van Gogh and the Danish painter Jens Søndergaard as his primary inspirations, and the connection to both is visible: an energetic, almost aggressive handling of paint, figures built from color rather than line, and a willingness to let the surface stay rough. His palette leans hard into primary colors, and his brushwork is thick enough that the paint becomes physical.
The subject matter is almost entirely human. Anonymous faces, figures caught mid-gesture, people staring directly at the viewer with something uncomfortable in their gaze. Madsen described his interest as curiosity about human existence, and the works carry that tension - not sentimental, not illustrative, but charged with psychological weight. A composition from his hand rarely settles into comfort.
Beyond Fanø, he exhibited across Denmark and showed internationally, including at Denise Bibro Fine Art in New York, where the exhibition "Red, Yellow, and the Blues" brought his expressionist figures to an American audience. He also published a book in 2007, "Hvorom alting er", which explored his approach to the creative process.
On the Nordic auction market, Madsen's paintings and prints appear primarily through Bruun Rasmussen's Aarhus rooms, which account for the large majority of his 23 recorded lots. Works have sold in the range of 4,400 to 14,000 DKK, with oil paintings reaching the higher end and signed editions of his print series "Faces" (2011) trading actively in the 4,000-8,500 DKK range. Given that he passed away in late 2024, secondary-market interest is likely to grow.