Elof Christian Risebye (3 April 1892 – 11 July 1961) was a Danish painter.[1] He became known as the "painter of grief" (sorgens maler) for his paintings of coffins and corpses in the 1930s.[2]
The series 7 Billeder malet ved en vens død (Seven Pictures Painted on a Friend's Death) painted after his friend, the sculptor Paul Kiærskou, died in 1933 marked a particularly important step in his career. It was the beginning of the gloomy motifs of dead figures and coffins which gave him the name Painter of Grief.[3] The painting Ved en kiste (At a Coffin, 1934) is notable for the way in which its almost black colouring depicts a man struck with feelings of guilt, showing how his sensitive hands are held over his mouth and one of his eyes.[2] From 1924, Risebye taught at the Academy's decoration school, becoming a professor in 1949.[3]
Elof Risebye's works have been widely exhibited over the years both in Denmark and abroad, most recently in Vejen Kunstmuseum in 2009.[4]