PARIS, FRANCE.- Musée d'Orsay presents From Symbolism to Expressionism, Willumsen (1863-1958), a Danish Artist, on view through September 17, 2006. The Danish artist Jens Ferdinand Willumsen is still little-known in France despite his spending long periods in the country. It was in Paris in 1890 that he met Sérusier and Denis, and discovered Odilon Redon's work through the intermediary of Theo van Gogh. During the same year, he met Gauguin whilst on a summer trip to Brittany which had taken him to Pont-Aven and the Pouldu. All these experiences were to influence his painting: after a Naturalist period, he passed through a Symbolist phase before moving towards Expressionism.

Willumsen was accomplished in various art disciplines and was as interested in sculpture, engraving, photography and ceramics as he was in painting. The exhibition includes examples of the full range of techniques employed by the artist plus those works which lie outside the Musée d'Orsay's usual period, Willumsen having died in 1958, in Le Cannet, at the age of 95.

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen was born in Copenhagen in 1863 but lived much of his life in France. After initial training in art at the Royal Academy of the Fine Arts in Copenhagen (1881-1885) and in architecture at the Copenhagen Technical College (1879-1882), he completed his education in 1885 in the Free Studios directed by the artist P.S. Krøyer (1851-1909). He also spent several sojourns in Paris: in 1888-1890, 1893-1894 and 1903-1904.

His works were exhibited in the Salon, the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts, the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, in the gallery run by Le Barc de Boutteville and at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The piece selected for the Universal Exhibition – Jotunheim (Frederikssund, J.F. Willumsens Museum) - was an impressive creation, not only a great success for Willumsen but a masterpiece of Symbolist painting. The large mountain landscape was painted in 1892-1893 after a trip to Norway. Willumsen designed the frame himself: a series of low-relief allegorical figures cut out of zinc and painted.