Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a photographic photography by Jens Ferdinand Willumsen. It dates from 1913 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work is a black‑and‑white photograph, printed on paper and mounted on a green backing card.
About this work
Overview
The work is a black‑and‑white photograph, printed on paper and mounted on a green backing card. It records a relief sculpture depicting a hat‑clad figure wielding a sword and shield, surrounded by elaborate leaf and flower motifs. The image is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s holdings.
Subject & Meaning
The relief portrays a standing male figure, likely a heroic or mythic character, distinguished by his hat, boots, sword in the right hand and shield in the left. The surrounding ornamental foliage frames the central figure, emphasizing a narrative of valor within a richly decorated context.
Technique & Style
The photograph captures the sculptural surface in monochrome, highlighting the play of light and shadow across the relief’s textures. The composition includes an ornate border and a small circular portrait at the bottom, underscoring the period’s attention to decorative framing and detail.
History & Provenance
The image was supplied to the British art historian William Kineton Parkes in the 1920s by Danish artist Jens Ferdinand Willumsen, responding to Parkes’s questionnaire on contemporary sculptors. The photograph entered a collection that was bequeathed to an archive in 1938 and now resides in the V&A.
Context
William Kineton Parkes, noted for his writings on sculpture, conducted a survey of sculptors during the 1920s. Willumsen’s contribution of this photograph reflects the international exchange of artistic documentation that informed Parkes’s research and the broader study of early‑20th‑century sculpture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jens Ferdinand Willumsen was a Danish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, architect and photographer. He became associated with the movements of Symbolism and Expressionism.
