Axel Poulsen


Rikard Axel Poulsen was a Danish sculptor. He is remembered for his memorials in Copenhagen's Fælledparken and Aarhus' Marselisborg Mindeparken.

Biography

Born in Copenhagen, he was brought up in Odense where he was introduced to wood carving by his father. We went on to study sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Carl Aarsleff and Joakim Skovgaard. He was awarded the Academy's gold medal in 1913 for his relief Christus uddriver Kræmmerne af Templet. From 1912, he exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition. He then spend a few years in Rome and Florence where in 1914 he completed his Den første Kærlighed in the Italian Renaissance style, inspired by Donatello's figure of St John. The work represented a new theme, the sexuality youth.
In 1926, he won the competition for a bronze memorial of the First World War. Known as the Genforenings-monument, it is installed at the entrance to Copenhagen's Fælledparken. Other monuments included the Marselisborg memorial to the First World War, the Second World War memorial in Ryvangen and Kongehyldningsmonument in Viborg depicting Margrethe I and Eric of Pomerania. In all these works, Poulsen succeeds in expressing human feelings in natural and simple style.

Awards

In 1914 Poulsen was awarded the Eckersberg Medal and in 1963 he received the Thorvaldsen Medal. In 1962, he was decorated Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Literature