Rikard Magnussen

Rikard Magnussen (2 April 1885 – 26 May 1948) was a Danish sculptor.

Early life and education

Magnussen was born on 2 April 1885 in Copenhagen, the son of bookkeeper Sophus Oscar M. (1849–1926) and Christiane Marie Weybøll (1853–1930). He completed his schooling in 1903. He was then trained as a sculptor, first for eight months under Elna Borch in 1904 and then under Stephan Sinding. He later worked on an off for Vilhelm Bissen 1913.

Career

Magnussen was a strong defender of the naturalistic style at a time when modernism came to play a still more dominant role on the art scene.

He was a member of Charlottenborg's censor committee and a board member both of Dansk Billedhugger Samfund, Kunstforeningen af 18. November and Foreningen for National Kunst, He was an art critic at København (1920–26), Nationaltidende and other newspapers. He was a member of Foreningen til Hovedstadens Forskønnelse in 1928–42 and served as its president in 1929–34.

His writings included his memoirs Billedhugger-Minder (1933), monographies about Janus la Cour (1928), Carl Bloch (1931), Christian Molsted (1935), Svend Hammershøi (b. 1936) and Godfred Christensen (I-II, 1939–41) as well as I Thorvaldsens Livsanskuelse (1936) about Bertel Thorvaldsen and Søren Kierkegaard set udefra (1942). He was editor of National Kunst (1940) and Danmarks nationale Malerkunst (1941).

Personal life

Magnussen married royal translator Ellen Reck (6 May 1879 – 9 January 1956), a daughter of military officer and businessman Anders Borch R. (1850–1927) and Marie Johanne Jacobine Qvist (1854–1927), on 10 July 1912 in Hellerup. He was made a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1938. He died on 26 May 1948 in Copenhagen and is buried in the city's Western Cemetery.

List of works

Ole Syversen Monument, Copenhagen

Emil Piper Memorial, Ltngby

• Munken og evighedsfuglen (gips, uexhibited 1908)
• Martin Luther (plaster, 1915)
• Den gode Hyrde (plaster, 1919)
• Pygmalion og Galathea (exhibited 1919)

Public art, monuments and memorials

• Ole Syversen Monument, Fælledparken, Copenhagen
• Frederik Ditlev Reventlow, Horslunde (1017)
• Emil Piper Memorial, Kongens Lyngby (1928)
• Sophie Magdalene, Hørsholm Slotspark, Hørsholm (1932)
• Frederik VIII and Louise, Charlottenlund Slotspark, Charlottenlund (1938)
• Christian, Count Moltke, Vallø Castle Park (1942)

Portrait busts

• Jacob Texière (plaster, 1907)
• Juliette Price (1910, marble, Royal Danish Theatre)
• Th. Skat Rørdam (plaster, 1911–12)
• August Krogh (1918, bronze, Zoological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen)
• C.A. Olesen (1921, bronze, Danish Distillers)
• Harald Kidde (plaster, 1925)
• Søren Kierkegaard (1929)