Poul Rytter at work in his atelier at his home 'Glarbjerg'.

Poul Rytter with his grandchild Marianne 1963.

The multi artist Poul Rytter (1895-1965)was born in Copenhagen. His father was Rasmus Peter Rytter and his mother Marie Madsen Merrild. He was the oldest of three sons, Poul, Max and Erik.

All three were gifted artists. Erik Rytter played the cello and Max Rytter the piano. Both on high artistic levels. Poul, however, was not very interested in playing any instrument, but from an early age he took great interest in carving, drawing and painting.

His motto was: Fine art should be affordable for ordinary people.

He was admitted into the Arcademy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen on his 18th years birthday 20. september 1913, where he was taught his professional skill, and also he was granted a stay in Menton in France. In 1928 he received the 'Kunstakademiets Rejsestipendium' of 500 Danish Kroner, a considerable amount those days.

Soon he had his first works accepted for exhibition at Charlottenborg and Kunstnernes Frie Udstilling, and at the age of only 24 he sold his first works to the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in England and the Metropolitan Museum. At that time he was already very recognized for his wood cuts which were also on exhibition in the USA (ref. Chicago Evening Post Magazine of The Art World, July 13. 1926). The same year three of his woodcuts went to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

He is also represented at the Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco with two woodcuts.

For many years he had works accepted by Charlottenborg and other important exhibitions. His art was signed in two different ways. See his signatures here.

He travelled to France and also to Norway with his older friend the Norwegian writer Jacob Breda Bull, and he loved his stays in the charming Norwegian valley, Rendalen, at Fiskevollen and in another of the breathtaking Norwegian valleys, Setesdalen, and other Norwegian places, where he made friends with the local people and did several drawings and paintings among which were very good portraits, one of them of Bull. It is now in his museum in Rendalen, Norway.

You may also see Bull here.
A painting from Rendalen may be seen here.

In 1927 he settled down far from the capital Copenhagen, in the western part of Denmark, Jutland, where nature those days was very much like the 'høyfjell' in Norway. In 1932 he built the house 'Glarbjerg' of his own design and he married his wife through the rest of his life, Magny Rytter, and got his only child, the son Erik, in 1936.

While living far away from the important places he for many years still had pieces of work, paintings, graphics, woodcuts and wood carvings, sent to Copenhagen for exhibitions. Also he was a recognized painter of portaits and did several comissioned by customers.

During the second world war he and his wife joined the resistance movement and for some time in autumn 1944 housed and operated an Eureka radio beacon for the allied aircrafts. Unfortunately a security leak, of which they had no part what-so-ever, caused an immediate closedown and escape to Copenhagen, where they stayed till the end of the war.

After the war he entered the newly formed home guard and became the first captain of comp. 2118 in Husby.

In late 1950 he entered into close cooperation with the wellknown architect Preben Hempel, who at that time was building several new schools all over Jutland, and Poul Rytter was the architect of colors and also did many very large and excellent wall paintings in a great number of Hempel's schools.

He was still very active when he became ill in autumn 1964 on a trip to Wales and after an operation in January 1965 he died in his home 'Ryttergaarden' in Husby on the 10'th of January at an age of only 69.

He was buried in the church yard in Husby.

See the prints on-line here

Print made by Poul Rytter
Danish
Title: Storks
Three storks. 1922
Woodcut on thin Japan paper
Signed and dated in pencil
Dimensions: 230.00 mm (approx) x 245.00 mm (approx)
Given by: Campbell Dodgson
1923,0409.5 PRN: PPA35951
Location: Scandinavian XXc Unmounted Roy

Print made by Poul Rytter
Danish
Title: Parrots
Three parrots perched on branch. 1922 - see them here
Woodcut on thin Japan paper
Signed and dated in pencil
Dimensions: 260.00 mm (approx) x 315.00 mm (approx)
Given by: Campbell Dodgson
1923,0409.6 PRN: PPA35952
Location: Scandinavian XXc Unmounted Roy

Print made by Poul Rytter
Danish
Title: Owl
Owl perched on branch. 1922- See it here
Woodcut on thin Japan paper
Signed and dated in pencil
Dimensions: 208.00 mm x 110.00 mm
Given by: Contemporary Art Society
1928,0310.87 PRN: PPA35953
Location: Scandinavian XXc Unmounted Roy

Victoria and Albert Museum, London:

[A tall tree]
Signed in pencil Paul Rytter 1920
Woodcut
14 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches
Museum number E.360-1924

[Group of trees against the horizon]
Signed in pencil Paul Rytter 1921
Woodcut
14 x 11 1/2 inches
Museum number E.361-1921

[Stork]
Signed in pencil on mount Paul Rytter 1919
Woodcut
5 x 5 inches
Museum number E.362-1924

Metropolitan Museum, New York.

The prints were given to the Museum as a gift in 1926 by B. R. Fibiger of Delevan,
Wisconsin. The accession numbers for the three woodcuts are as follows:

26.38.1
Wind Mill, 1924
14-1/2 x 10-3/4 inches

26.38.2
Landscape with Trees, 1921
14-1/16 x 11-1/4 inches

26.38.3
Tree with two Birds, 1920 - see them here
14-13/16 x 10-1/8 inches

Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco

Paul Rytter
Danish , 1895 -
Parrots, 1921-
Woodcut
Gift of Dr. William McPherson Fitzhugh Jr.
1957.188.45

Paul Rytter
Danish , 1895 -
Pelicans, 1922 -
Woodcut
22.7 x 26.7 cm (image); 28 x 30.5 cm (sheet) inches
Gift of Dr. William McPherson Fitzhugh Jr.
1957.188.44