Johannes Holbek

He graduated from the Roskilde Cathedral School in 1891 and was admitted to the Copenhagen Technical College the following year, where he studied with the artist, Holger Grønvold [da].

As a result, he made several visits to Paris and Brittany and, from 1901 to 1902, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Gustave Moreau, who was especially important to the development of his style.

Upon returning home, he provided cartoons for the newspapers København and Politiken,[2] but his paintings were rejected by Den Frie Udstilling and the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition.

During this time, he illustrated and wrote the text for two works; Omkring Midlet (About the Means) and Dekadent Barbari (Decadent Barbarism), which were published posthumously by his friend, Jens Lund.

He had been intensively involved with the creation of a set of books that would summarize his life and philosophy, and was already overworked, so this new setback precipitated a physical and mental breakdown.