Erik Thommesen | Grothcollection

Erik Thommesen (1916-2008) was a Danish sculptor, married to the artist Anna Thommesen. As a self-taught artist, he made his debut in 1940 at the Artists' Autumn Exhibition.

Wood was Thommesen's preferred material, and man was a leitmotif in his art. In the 1940s, his figures were executed in a recognisable, but simplified, more or less angular form, such as in the motif Woman with Braids, over which he created a whole series of sculptures; In it, he gradually developed a formal abstraction stripped of details, where the massive block rises organically in space. Also in later series such as Head, Two People and Man and Woman, the titles only give a clue as to the motivic starting point.

Thommesen, who is represented in many Danish art museums, wrote numerous articles and essays on art since the 1950s. He was a member of the Harvest Exhibition from 1947 to 1949, of the March Exhibition from 1951 to 1982, and has received both the Eckersberg Medal and the Thorvaldsen Medal (1965 and 1972) as well as the Prince Eugen Medal (1983).