KROG, Arnold
Danish architect, craftsman, and ceramicist. After an apprenticeship as a mason, from 1874, Krog studied at the Copenhagen Academy of Art, where he passed his architectural exams in 1888. While still a student (1884), he started working for Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik in Copenhagen, becoming its artistic director just one year later, until 1916.
The underglaze painting, inspired by Japanese woodcut prints, which Krog executed as decoration, brought Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik international fame. Krog also supplied the formal designs of many of the factory’s porcelain wares.
His colleagues included the chemist Adolphe Clément (1860-1933) and his successor, Knud Valdemar Engelhardt (1882-1931), who made a name for himself with his crystal glazes.
Arnold Krog is remembered for his achievements as artistic director of Royal Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik. He revived the company after a period of decline, moving away from the stiff Empire style of previous decades in favour of a more Impressionist style that combined underglaze painting techniques with inspiration from Japanese imagery and European naturalism. Krog designed the Polar Bear Fountain for the Peace Palace in The Hague. He has also designed furniture and silverware and took up landscape painting after he retired from the porcelain factory in 1916.
