‘La Toilette’ by Mogens Hertz, 1953, Seated Nude, Paris, Charlottenborg, Bornholm, Benezit, Large Oil

Signed lower left, ‘Mogens Hertz’ (Danish, 1909-1999) and dated 1953.

A substantial figural oil showing a young woman, seated and arranging her hair before an open window. A substantial lyrical work by this notable Danish Impressionist.

Mogens Hertz first studied with the classically-trained Academician, Laurits Ring and, subsequently, with the pioneering Impressionist, Rostrup Boyesen. After an influential study trip to Paris in 1930, Hertz continued his formal studies at Copenhagen’s Charlottenborg Academy before moving to the artist’s retreat in the idyllic countryside outside Gudhjem. There, he became a founder, and leading member, of the influential Bornholm School. Hertz’s work came to exemplify the school’s loose and painterly Impressionist style that, particularly in their landscapes, can often border on abstraction.

From 1930-1941, Hertz traveled and studied widely, including in France, Holland, German, Norway and Sweden. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and juried awards including the August Schiøtt scholarship (1948) and the Frederik Sødring prize (1939). He exhibited widely and with success including, for many years, at the Royal Danish Academy’s Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (from 1937) as well as in Sweden (1980), at th Bornholm Art Museum (1985) and the Vejen Art Museum (1983). Mogens Hertz is listed in all relevant art biographical reference works including Benezit.

Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 6, p. 954; Weilbach, Dansk Kunstnerleksikon, the Castle and Cultural Agency, Copenhagen; Chr. F. Beck i: Da. Kunst, nr. 90, maj 1950; Helge Ernst: Bornholmermalerne, 1984, 123f, 134; Lars Kærulf Møller i: Bornholms Kunstmus. Et udvalg af billeder, 1986, 42, 44; et al.