Figure 1.--Jens Juel's talents were recogonized at an early age by a schoolmaster who adopted him. He is best known or his elegant portraits. He began doing self-portraits at an early age. We believe thiswas his first. We are not sure when it was painted or how old he was. He looks to be a teenager, but the portrait is dated 1767 which would mean he was about 21 years old. We would have guessed it was painted earlier. Even as a young man not yet completing his professional training, his skill is incredible. In fact this portait is better done than many of his later portraits. Probabky a factor was the amount of time devoted to it.

Jens Juel was an illegitimate child who was brought up by a schoolmaster and lived in Gamborg. His artisistic skills were apparaent very early. He was sent as a teenager to study with the painter Johann Michael Gehrman in Hamburg, where he very early (in his twenties) gained a reputation as a skilled craftstman of first portraits and then landscapes as well. His seris of self portraits began at an early age. He then returned to Copenhagen to attend the Royal Danish Academy of Art as a young man. He then began an 8-year odyssey abroad (1772). He spent 4 of those years in Rome, and then traveled to Paris and Geneva. He not only studied the old masters, but gaining experience and new ideas by mingling with well-known painters in these cities. Having honed his skill and earning a reputation, he finally returned to establish himself professionally in Copenhagen. He brought many of the most current threads in art home to somewhat isolated Copenhagen. One of the new ideas was landscape. He painted beautiful, evocative landscapes. It was as a painter of portraits that he primarily focused and is best known. We see elegant composition expressing character. He was strong in draughtsmanship and gave considerable attention to materials and color. His skill was so pronounced that soon after his return to Copenhagen, Juel was appointed court portrait painter. He became well known for his portraits of Danish royalty, nobility, and other wealthy clients. He was appointed a professor at the Danish Academy (1886). He became the director (1795).

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Created: 8:05 PM 2/22/2008
Last updated: 9:46 AM 7/30/2016