KunstenaarDanish
Robert Jacobsen
4 actieve items
Born into a working-class family in Copenhagen on 4 June 1912, Robert Jacobsen never attended an art academy. He taught himself sculpture, beginning with wood and stone before turning to iron. During the German occupation of Denmark, he became part of the circle around Helhesten, the underground art journal that brought together painters like Asger Jorn, Carl-Henning Pedersen, and Egill Jacobsen. Though closely connected to these artists who formed CoBrA in 1948, Jacobsen never officially joined the group.
In 1947, Jacobsen traveled to Paris with his friend Richard Mortensen. He joined Galerie Denise Rene in 1948, placing himself at the center of geometric abstraction in post-war Europe. Paris gave him the space and the scrap metal to develop his signature technique: forging open iron constructions where empty space carried as much weight as the material itself.
Jacobsen's iron sculptures treat the void as form. Thin rods and flat planes of welded iron define volumes without enclosing them. He participated in Documenta II in Kassel in 1959, and in 1966 he received the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale. In 1967 he was awarded the Thorvaldsen Medal, and in 1974 the Prince Eugen Medal. He served as professor at the Kunstakademie in Munich from 1962 to 1981, and at the Royal Danish Academy from 1976 to 1985.
In 1969, Jacobsen returned to Denmark, settling in Tagelund near Egtved in Jutland. One of his final major projects was a sculpture park at Torskind Gravel Pit near Vejle, created with Jean Clareboudt between 1986 and 1991. He died on 26 January 1993.
At auction, Jacobsen's work appears regularly at Danish and Scandinavian houses. His 103 recorded lots span paintings, prints, and sculptures. A drip painting sold for 65,000 DKK, while iron sculptures have reached 38,000 DKK. Bruun Rasmussen handles the majority of sales.