About Gerda Madvig
Lived 1868 – 1940 (aged 72). Gerda Madvig was a Danish painter and sculptor.
Gerda Madvig (14 April 1868 – 10 September 1940) was a Danish painter and sculptor.
Biography Gerda Madvig was born Gerda Heyman in Copenhagen to the Jewish-Danish industrialist and etatsråd Philip Wulff Heyman, co-founder of Tuborg Brewery and pioneer of Danish butter and bacon exports, and his wife Hanne Emilie Adler, both Danish Jews with roots in Germany.
Career Madvig learned to draw with the painter and illustrator Carl Thomsen, and then to model with professor August Saabye, with whom she worked for roughly five years. In 1892, she exhibited at the annual Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition her first piece, , and in 1893 . Later, modeled a body-sized figure, called Asra and some busts, among others, one of her sister Jenny, who was married to the painter Georg Seligmann.
Madvig also played music and gave concerts in Paris, where she lived from 1903 until shortly before her death.
Death Madvig died in Charlottenlund, Denmark, in 1940. She is buried at Hellerup Cemetery.
Works
Sculpture En kvinde ("A woman", 1892) Sovende barn ("Sleeping Child", 1893) Moderen (relief, 1902–03) Asra (figure) Dyrestatuetter (bronze) La vigilance (bronze, ca. 1937) Kristus (1938) Statuetter af datteren Edith
Busts Julius Petersen (plaster, University of Copenhagen) Jenny Seligmann, born Heyman Hanne Heyman (marble) Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (Paris, 1904) Frédéric Chopin (1933) Roger Garreau Charles Madvig Pierre d'Arquennes (who headed the École Normale de Musique de Paris before Pierre Petit). Aage Louis Dessau
Paintings Fiskehavn i Nordfrankrig (exhibited in 1928)
Don’t just read it —
keep it.
Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.
- E-book
- Audio
- Video
Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free
Important facts
People in Gerda Madvig's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Gerda Madvig's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Gerda Madvig?
Danish painter (1868-1940)
When was Gerda Madvig born?
Gerda Madvig was born on 14 April 1868 in Copenhagen.
When did Gerda Madvig die?
Gerda Madvig died on 10 September 1940 in Charlottenlund.
What was Gerda Madvig's occupation?
Gerda Madvig was a painter and sculptor.
What nationality was Gerda Madvig?
Gerda Madvig was Danish.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Gerda Madvig. https://biography.guide/gerda-madvig/
MLA: "Gerda Madvig." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/gerda-madvig/.
Chicago: "Gerda Madvig." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/gerda-madvig/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-26 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Page generated 2026-09-27 05:16 UTC