Johan Frederik Clemens - Return To Copenhagen

Return To Copenhagen

He returned to Copenhagen in autumn 1778 where his elderly father was sick and decrepit.

In 1779 he was named royal engraver, with the helpful support of Wiedewelt, and received an annual wage by which he could support a family. Along with Juel, who was named to royal painter for the court the following year, he was kept busy making portraits for the royal family and nobility over the next ten years.

He returned to Paris to marry fiancée, Marie Jeanne Crevoisier, on August 27, 1781. They moved together back to Copenhagen. He taught his new wife, already artistically inclined, the art of copperplate etching, and she became quite proficient at it. Marie Jeanne quickly fell into the Danish artistic milieu.

Clemens’ father died in 1782. That same year Marie Jeanne received an invitation of her own to join the Art Academy as pastel painter. She was one of the first women to receive the honor. She, however, never delivered her assigned submission work to the Academy, and therefore never fulfilled the conditions for membership.

Clemens achieved great notice during this period of time for etchings he created for two book assignments: a collection of Johannes Ewald’s works based on drawings of Abildgaard, begun in 1780, and another based on illustrations by his friend and patron, Wiedewelt in 1783. Clemens’ 1780 illustration for the first volume of Ewald’s work— for the dramatic piece "Adam and Eve"— was considered indecent, and led to a break in their collaboration for several years. The two continued their collaboration with "Socrates" (1786) and "Lykkens Tempel" ("The Temple of Happiness").

Clemens occupied a central position in that time’s artistic life and spirit, and was an avid participant in the Enlightenment’s scientific and philosophical discussions. During the 1780s he collaborated with Abildgaard on a series of social, religious and political satires and critiques. Like Juel and Abildgaard he had close connections to contemporary political circles, and he and his wife were particularly close to Chamberlain and Court Marshal Johan Bülow.

Clemens was first accepted as member of the Academy in 1786 with the submission of etchings of "Kronprins Frederik" ("Crown Prince Frederik") and "Louise Augusta". With his enormous creative talent Clemens' reputation in Denmark grew, and he was in good company with his contemporaries Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard, Johan Martin Preisler, Johan Edvard Mandelberg, Johannes Wiedewelt and Jens Juel.