Ib Geertsen Estate (DK)

Ib Geertsen (1919-2009)

The Danish modernist artist Ib Geertsen was one of the originators of the "Konkret" movement in postwar Scandinavia. Derived from constructivism, the movement was closely associated with Denmark's social democracy and with major state-sponsored public art commissions. Geertsen, a progressive and a populist, became a committed proponent of the Konkret aesthetic and the universalism with which it was associated.

Born in Copenhagen, Geertsen grew up in the city of Aarhus, where he trained as a gardener. His non-academic background and diverse early career reflected one important strand of the Danish modern movement, which was as equally rooted in provincial arts and crafts traditions as it was in the intellectual and bohemian life of the capital.