Works
He had a rich fantasy, and his compositions were easy and natural. His works were tasteful, and influenced by both his French Baroque training and his careful study of and appreciation for late Greek and Roman art. He was well-versed in the use of classical allegory and symbols, especially those having to do with death.
He was also inspired by Nordic mythology and ancient, Viking and Icelandic sagas, and made many drawings based on these.
Sculptures and reliefs attributed to him and his studio have been lost to time, and are sometimes only evidenced by sketches and engravings.
His works are a part of the royal households and gardens. Those in the gardens are the largest collections of his works in one place. He viewed his garden decorations as creating an outdoors theatre presentation relating to the surrounding trees of various types, to figure groups of sculptures and to decorative columns and obelisks. He had a sense of the developing romantic garden.
His memorial monuments are spread out in churches throughout Denmark, with the royal monuments at Roskilde Cathedral. Many of these monuments can be found at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.
His drawings are also highly esteemed. He illustrated a deluxe edition of Ludvig Holberg's "Peder Paars" in 1772, engravings for which were made by Johan Frederik Clemens, who collaborated with Wiedewelt on several projects. He also made illustrations for a book by Peder Topp Wandal on the Jægerspris Castle project in 1783. Clemens also engraved these illustrations,
Wiedewelt, along with architect Harsdorff, was one of the primary figures responsible for introducing Neoclassicism to Denmark. He was highly esteemed by his contemporaries and by those artists who followed. He is considered an important transitional figure leading to future generations of Danish artists.
He was a learned man, very cultivated. He had a large library of books covering many subjects, which often served as a source of inspiration. He is known to have had a dark satirical sense of humour, which came out in his drawings.
As professor at the Academy he introduced his Neoclassical theories to artistic students. Among his many students was Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard, future Director of the Academy and instructor for Bertel Thorvaldsen, and undoubtedly Danmark's most renowned sculptor.
Read more about this topic: Johannes Wiedewelt
Famous quotes containing the word works:
“Are you there, Africa with the bulging chest and oblong thigh? Sulking Africa, wrought of iron, in the fire, Africa of the millions of royal slaves, deported Africa, drifting continent, are you there? Slowly you vanish, you withdraw into the past, into the tales of castaways, colonial museums, the works of scholars.”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“His character as one of the fathers of the English language would alone make his works important, even those which have little poetical merit. He was as simple as Wordsworth in preferring his homely but vigorous Saxon tongue, when it was neglected by the court, and had not yet attained to the dignity of a literature, and rendered a similar service to his country to that which Dante rendered to Italy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Any balance we achieve between adult and parental identities, between children’s and our own needs, works only for a time—because, as one father says, “It’s a new ball game just about every week.” So we are always in the process of learning to be parents.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion, Dennie, and Palmer Wolf. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 2 (1978)