[1] He is however primarily remembered as a highly proficient graphic artist, not only for his woodcuts and engravings but for his contributions to overall book design.
After attending Copenhagen's Technical School, he entered the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, first studying painting under Ejnar Nielsen and Aksel Jørgensen (1926–28) and then graphic arts, also under Jørgensen (1930–38), including woodcuts, etching and lithography.
[2] He continued to practice painting although in 1933, at the age of just 24, he created his first published illustrations producing excellent woodcuts for Steen Steensen Blicher's Brudstykker af en Landsbydegns Dagbog (Diary of a Parish Clerk).
He also provided illustrations for the works of many foreign authors including William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Nikolay Gogol and Edgar Allan Poe.
And those of us who produce these illustrations must understand that we are providing a service for something that is much greater than we are; we need to feel admiration and respect for the text.