Sven Havsteen-Mikkelsen

In his youth, Havsteen-Mikkelsen became acquainted with the Funen Painters where he also learnt the art of woodcut, a technique he would later use to illustrate books on Nordic literature.

[2] After travelling widely outside Denmark, Havsteen-Mikkelsen settled first on Tåsinge and later on Ærø from where he toured the Danish countryside with Martin A. Hansen, Ole Wivel and Regin Dahl.

From the 1950s, he became a central figure for church decoration in Denmark, completing altarpieces and religious works which often harmonised with existing Renaissance art.

His landscapes from the Faroes and Iceland often depict early Christian communities but they are always free of human figures who are only to be found in his Biblical works.

[4] Of particular note is the decorative work Havsteen-Mikkelsen completed in some 60 churches in Denmark, Norway, Greenland and the Faroes comprising altarpieces, paintings, stained glass windows and crucifixes.