Self
Portrait,
1942.
41
x
52
cm.
Pencil/chalk.
The
Danish
artist
Gitz-Johansen
(1897-1977)
is
best
known
for
his
paintings
of
the
people
and
nature
of
Greenland.
Named
"Qaalipaarsorsuaq"
("The
Great
Painter")
by
the
people,
Greenland
became
a
continual
source
of
inspiration
for
him.
Over
the
years
he
also
traveled
extensively
to
through
Europe
and
Africa.
Gitz-Johansen
was
a
defender
of
the
traditional
Eskimo
world
and
a
critique
of
the
fast
and
insensitive
modernization.
In
this
respect,
there
is
a
similarity
between
Gaugin's
response
to
Tahiti
and
Gitz-Johansen's
response
to
Greenland.
With
his
love
of nature
he
developed
a
special
relation
to
birds
and
these
animals
became
one
of
his
central
motives.
Eider
Duck,
Christiansø,
1959.
43
x
32
cm.
Ink/colored
chalk.
His
own
style
of
painting
developed
over
the
years.
He
almost
never
bound
his
colors
to
the
contours
of
a
drawing.
Only
the
works
of
Paul
Klee
depict
a
similar
temperament
and
movement
laid
bare
with
the
subtleties
of color.
He
often
combined
form
and
color
by
laying
a black-line
drawing
on
top
of the
color
background.
Today
Gitz's
works
are
exhibited
in
museums
throughout
Scandinavia.
Many
of
his
works
and
memorabilia
are
preserved
in
a
small
gallery
in
Svaneke
on
the
Danish
island
of
Bornholm
by
his
wife,
Vibeke
Gitz-Johansen
and
in
a
building
designed
and
made
by
her
son
Jeppe
Gitz-Johansen
"Gaia
and
Bluebird"
("Gaia
+
Blåfuglen").
The
idea
of
this
website
is
to
present
the
diversity
in
the
art
of
Gitz-Johansen
and
make
it
available
to
a
broader
audience.
Tilblivelse
(Come
to
Existence),
1967.
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