Victor Brockdorff

Background

The son of a shipmaster, Brockdorff was born in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen.

Education

After studying privately under Ernst Zeuthen and Olivia Holm Møller from 1926 to 1929, he studied graphic art under Aksel Jørgensen at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (1931-1934).

Career

He was a cofounder of the Corner artists" association. In the 1930s, he moved to Odsherred where he associated with the Odsherred Painters, and painted landscapes of the area. However, he became interested in painting city scenes, especially of the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, as well as portraits.

His style evolved from Modernism to Realism.

Typical subjects included children playing on the pavement, people waiting at bus stops, and rainy street scenes. Painting scenes depicting workers, he became associated with social realism.

He continued to be an active painter, producing strikingly colourful interiors, often in large formats such as Eremitagesletten and Fluepapiret ved Charlottenlund in 1974. Brockdorff also painting portraits including one of Queen Margrethe for the Søofficerforeningen (Naval Officers Association).

Achievements

• He debuted at the Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling (autumn exhibition) at Den Frie in 1930, and was a co-founder of the Corner Exhibition in 1932 where he frequently exhibited.

Politics

From 1946, he spent five years in Paris, sending illustrated reports of socialist movements to the Copenhagen journals Nationaltidende and Land og Folk, developing his skills as an illustrator and cartoonist.