Evgenij Klenø’s Oil Painting

Danish-Russian artist Evgenji Klenø (1921-2005) worked in both graphic arts and as a painter. He studied at Jacobine ‘Bizzie’ Høyer’s painting school and during the Second World War, continued his education in Sweden under the guidance of artist Isaac Grünewald. After the war, he returned to Denmark to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts.

During the mid-twentieth century, he lived in Paris at the Danish Artist’s House with Richard Mortensen and Robert Jacobsen and was affiliated with the Galerie Denise René. After living in Italy and Spain, the artist returned to France where he lived until his death in 2005.

In this expressive still life, Klenø has divided the canvas horizontally. Muted, darker tones of the background contrast with lighter, vibrant blues and yellows. Our eye is drawn to these central bolder colours, inviting us to explore the gestural brushwork of which they are composed. The crumpled white and blue linen cloth repeats the horizontal structuring and has the effect of balancing the overall composition.