Jais Nielsen Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Signed lower left, 'Jais' for Johannes Knud Ove Jais-Nielsen (Danish, 1885-1961) and dated 1938. A powerful figural work showing a view of Jesus kneeling in the Garden of Gethsemane on the evening before his trial and execution. Born in Denmark, Jais Nielsen initially studied at Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler under Kristian Zahrtmann and exhibited for the first time at the 1907 Autumn Salon at the Charlottenborg Palace. Nielsen participated in the early and groundbreaking, “Group of Thirteen" Modernist show, where his focus on dynamic figural painting and his bold use of color set him dramatically apart from his contemporaries. From 1907-11, Nielsen's use of 'primitive' Fauve colors would continue to reinforce his break with traditional Danish painting. During this period, he made study excursions to important art centres, including, in 1909, to Berlin. In 1911, he moved to Paris where he settled in the Latin Quarter near the Musée Cluny. His first formal Paris exhibition was at the Salon d’Automne of 1912. During this first Paris period, Nielsen attended meetings of the Section d’Or at the studio of Jacques Villon and, as a result, began to incorporate subtle, yet distinct, Cubist elements into his work.   With the outbreak of World War One, Nielsen returned to Copenhagen, taking with him both his increasing compositional sophistication and a thorough understanding of the principles of Modernism. During this period, ports, dance and circus life became subjects of interest and he painted many canvases in the style of Analytic Cubism, of which he became the earliest and, arguably, the finest Danish exponent. From 1915 onwards, Nielsen also created Cubist sculptures and, from 1922-28, was employed as a sculptor by the Royal Copenhagen porcelain factory. Here, he produced a series of ceramic sculptures on Biblical themes which included the Good Samaritan and several versions of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel...