Go to skovgaardmuseet.dk
A Versatile Artist in a New Era
Susette Holten (1863-1937), née Skovgaard, grew up in one of the most influential artistic circles in Danish art history. Her father, the landscape painter P.C. Skovgaard, was her first teacher, and from an early age she knew she wanted to become an artist. Following the early deaths of her parents, she became part of painter Thorald Læssøe’s household, where she came into contact with many of the leading artists and cultural figures of the time.
Holten belonged to the generation of women artists who helped pave the way for greater equality in the art world during the late nineteenth century. At a time when women did not yet have equal access to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, she received private instruction from artists including Carl Thomsen, Laurits Tuxen, and Frans Schwartz. At the same time, her family and the extensive artistic network surrounding the Skovgaard family played an important role in her development.
Between Painting and Decorative Arts
Holten worked both as a painter and as a decorative artist. She painted landscapes, portraits, figure compositions, and floral still lifes, but also devoted herself to illustration, textiles, jewellery, and furniture design.
In the 1880s, she became part of the circle around the Decorative Arts Association (Dekorationsforeningen) alongside artists such as Thorvald Bindesbøll, Theodor Philipsen, Elise Konstantin-Hansen, and her brothers Joakim and Niels Skovgaard. The group contributed to the renewal of Danish decorative arts and the development of the decorative Skønvirke style, Denmark’s interpretation of Art Nouveau. Holten demonstrated a particularly independent talent in ceramics, where her work often had a more sculptural than functional character.
Den Frie Udstilling and the World Beyond Denmark
Holten made her debut at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in 1885 and was among the initiators of Den Frie Udstilling (The Free Exhibition) in 1891, which became an important platform for many of the period’s modern artists.
Travel played a significant role in her artistic life. She spent time in France, Italy, Egypt, Norway, and the United States, and her encounters with artistic communities abroad left a clear mark on her work. She drew inspiration from both Art Nouveau and Japanese art, while developing a distinctly personal style characterized by a strong decorative sensibility and confident use of colour.
An Artist on Her Own Terms
In 1894, she married the merchant Hans Nicolai Holten, and in 1897 the couple had a son, Aage. When Holten’s business ventures failed, the family emigrated to the United States in 1907 in search of new opportunities. There, Susette worked in interior decoration and design. After returning to Denmark in 1910, she was employed as a signed underglaze painter at the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory from 1910 to 1914, and later at Bing & Grøndahl around 1915-1918, helping to support the family financially.
She was a member of both the Danish Women’s Society and the Women Artists’ Society, and she continued to exhibit her work throughout her life in Denmark and abroad.
Although Susette Holten never achieved the same level of fame as her brothers Joakim and Niels Skovgaard, she is today recognised as a significant figure in Danish art around the turn of the twentieth century. Her works testify to a versatile artist who forged her own path during a period of profound change in the art world.