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WORK IN OTHER
MEDIA
Based on Skov’s
dedication to the medium of oil painting and amount of his completed
paintings which in number exceeds one thousand, he will undoubtedly be
regarded principally as a painter. His artistic talent also found expression
in several other media, however. A major part of his oeuvre is comprised of an almost equal amount of drawings
executed in pencil, Indian ink, color pencil, crayon and mixed media, and
he also worked with charcoal, linoleum cuts and ceramics. These different
aspects of Skov’s work which in addition to completed pieces also include
exploratory studies and aesthetic experiments, and recreational work, are
of interest both in themselves and as reference material for his other
work.
An artist obviously
exposes his talent in whatever medium he works, and the more so when he
works in media with which he may be less routined and therefore more
reliant on his intuition. Seen in this perspective, Skov’s work produced
outside of the main stream of his oil paintings, take on special
significance because they illustrate the many other facets of his artistic
talent. Because he was so versatile, there can be no doubt that he could as
easily have concentrated his artistic efforts on pencil drawings, graphics,
linoleum cuts, water colors or ceramics decoration as he did with his large
oeuvre of oil paintings.
Skov's facility
with working in different media was educated during his apprenticeship and
schooling starting in Copenhagen in 1924 and continued 1931 - 1932 in the Meisterschule in Munich. His education as a craftsman specializing in
painting at the school for decorative arts in Copenhagen, Det
Tekniske Selskabs Skole, provided a very comprehensive basis of
knowledge and experience enabling him to work with equal ease across a
variety of art media. He also worked for several years, as part of the
apprenticeship program, with the decorative restoration and redecoration of
Christiansborg, the former Royal Palace now used as the Parliament building, in Copenhagen. This commercial assignment included working
with oil painting, applying stucco with alfresco decorations, use of
gold-leaf and a variety of surface treatments and imitations. Besides a
very thorough education in the principles and practises of painting workmanship,
this education also led to his genuine respect for quality and appreciation
of the long tradition and intimate relationship existing between
decoration, illusion and painting. And his later studies of painting and
drawing in Munich, where in 1932 he was awarded the Meisterbrief, further increased his
versatility in the various media.
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