Amazons and Centaurs - Carl Forup

Carl Christian Forup was born in Vejle, Denmark on 26 February 1883. He studied at the Academy of Art in Copenhagen under Ole Olsen from 1902-1906 and again from 1907-1911 at the Royal Danish Academy of the Arts.

This painting by Forup is one of the largest that he produced during his career. At the beginning of the 20th century, the artist shared an apartment with Einar Wegener, a successful Danish artist. The painting is said to have been painted for Gerda Wegener, Einar’s wife. The couple is known to modern audiences from the book and film The Danish Girl, which fictionalized Einar’s becoming Lili Elbe, one of the first identifiable recipients of sex reassignment surgery.