Rudolph Tegner

He was the son of politician and businessman Jørgen Henry August Tegner and his wife Signe Elisabeth Puggaard.

Tegner's sculptures developed the stylistic innovations of Art Nouveau and the erotic realism of Auguste Rodin.

This caused widespread debate in Denmark, which was still heavily influenced by the restrained neo-classical ideals of Bertel Thorvaldsen.

[2] Tegner was influenced strongly by the ideas of Frederich Nietzsche, especially as filtered through the writings of Georg Brandes.

[4] Brandes himself defended Tegner's most controversial work, a monument to the physician and Nobel Laureate Niels Finsen, which was installed in Copenhagen in 1909.