Achton Friis

Achton Friis
Achton Friis photographed on the Denmark Expedition to Greenland
Born	Johannes Achton Friis (1871-09-05)September 5, 1871 Trustrup, Denmark
Died	December 17, 1939(1939-12-17) (aged 68) Copenhagen, Denmark
Nationality	Danish
Education	Royal Danish Academy of Art
Known for	Painting
Awards	Medal of Merit

Achton Friis (5 September 1871 - 17 December 1939) was a Danish illustrator, painter and writer. He participated in the Danish Expedition to Northeast Greenland in 1906–08, creating a large number of works in the process, both landscape paintings and portraits, as well as a written account which was published in 1909. He later published several comprehensive and richly illustrated works with descriptions of the nature and cultural history of different parts of Denmark. In addition, he designed decorative works for the Bing & Grøndahl porcelain manufacturer.

Friis was born in Trustrup on the Fjursland peninsula in 1871. He attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1895-99. He learned etching techniques from Carl Locher in 1900-01.

In 1906-08, Friis participated in the Denmark Expedition to northeastern Greenland. His works included oil paintings of landscapes as well as numerous portraits.

Friis' works from the expedition included landscape paintings as well as numerous portraits, both of expedition members and local Inuit. Another artist, Aage Bertelsen, was also a member of the expedition. Friis' and Bertelsen's works from the Denmark Expedition were featured in an exhibition at the Rudolph Tegner Museum in 2011.

Friis also wrote the official travel account from the expedition, Danmark Ekspeditionen til Grønlands Nordøstkyst, which was published in 1909 and reissued in 2005. Friis and Aage Bertelsen's works from the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's North-East Coast was featured in an exhibition at the Rudolph Tegner Museum in 2011. A comprehensive extract from Friis' and Bertelsen's diaries was published in 2013.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Friis published three comprehensive works with descriptions of the nature and cultural history of different parts of Denmark. They are collectively referred to as De Danskes Land ("Land of the Danes").

The 1200-page De Danskes Øer. Ekspeditionen til de 132 øer ("The Danes' Islands: Expedition to the 132 Islands") was published in three volumes between 1926 and 1928. In 1932-33, it was followed by the two-volume De Jyders Land ("Land of the Jutlanders") about Jutland. In 1936-1937, Friis published Danmarks Store Øer ("Denmark's Large Islands") in two volumes.