Steen Foege is a Danish painter based in Copenhagen who paints luminous, imaginary landscapes traversed by vividly colored skies. In recent years, his work has found an international audience that far exceeds what he had imagined.
Tell me about your background.
I have always had a strong connection to visual expression. I first studied graphic design at the Royal Danish Academy, School of Architecture, and I worked for many years in design and visual communication. Drawing and painting have always been a part of my life, but over time, painting has taken on an increasingly important role. Today, it has become central to who I am.
My evolution as a painter has been quite organic. I have painted a lot, experimented a lot, and gradually learned to trust my instincts. In recent years, my landscapes have found a language that truly feels like my own.
What led you to painting?
I think it is the freedom that painting offers that attracted me. Unlike design, painting does not need to solve a problem or convey a specific message. It can simply exist and create an emotion.
I am fascinated by nature, light, color, and especially the sky. A landscape can be extremely simple while containing an immense emotional space.
How would you describe your creative process—do you paint from memory, from photos, or en plein air?
I do not paint from photos, nor directly from nature. My landscapes are imaginary.
I generally start without knowing exactly where the painting will take me. I work intuitively with color, light, atmosphere, and composition. One decision leads to another. Sometimes, something unexpected happens, and that is very often when the painting becomes interesting.
I don't try to describe a specific place. I try to create a place that feels familiar, even if it has never existed.
Is there a moment or period in your career that stands out to you?
These past two years have been extraordinary for me. My paintings have reached an international audience much wider than I could have ever imagined, especially via Instagram, and my work now finds collectors in many different countries.
Seeing people from completely different backgrounds react emotionally to such simple landscapes has been incredibly meaningful to me. It made me realize that something very personal can also become universal.
What do you seek to convey through your art?
I hope my paintings create a moment of calm.
We live in a very fast-paced and increasingly digital world, where our online presence seems to take up an ever-greater part of our lives. I believe that is perhaps why we are developing an even stronger desire for peace and silence in nature—for open spaces, light, air, and a sense of simply being present.
That is perhaps what people recognize in my paintings. They offer a peaceful space, far away from all that noise.
I do not want to tell people exactly what they should feel when looking at my paintings. I prefer to leave room for their own memories, imagination, and emotions.
Is there a quote that guides you, or that summarizes your relationship with art?
I often come back to a very simple thought of my own:
“When everything is precise, there is no longer any room for the imagination.”
For me, painting has never really been about precision. It is about atmosphere, intuition, and feeling—and it is about leaving enough unsaid so that the viewer can enter the painting in their own way.
