Robin Christian Andersen, son of Danish parents, received his first training from his father, the painter Christian Georgius Andersen. Later he studied at the painting schools of Robert Scheffer and Gustav Bauer in Vienna. He went on study trips to Italy with his future brother-in-law and former classmate Anton Faistauer. Together with him and with Anton Kolig, Franz Wiegele, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka he exhibited in 1911 as a member of the Neukunstgruppe in the rooms of the Hagenbund. A painter and organiser all his life, he presented a major exhibition of the Sonderbund in 1920 in Winterthur, Bern and Geneva, which united the painters of the Kunstschau. He belonged to the Salzburg Wassermann group founded by Faistauer, and was also involved in the founding of the Vienna Gobelin Manufactory in 1921. Andersen was a member of the Secession, and from 1945 to 1965 he worked as a professor at the Academy. His preferred subjects were portraits, still lifes and landscapes. After coming to terms with Historicism and Impressionism, he arrived at a constructive principle of representation. His knowledge of Cézanne's art is particularly evident in his works. Characteristic of his paintings is a cool, restrained colourfulness. A number of prizes and many exhibitions honoured his person and his work.
Literature
Robin Christian Andersen, Secession, Wien 1967; Robin Christian Andersen, Kunstverein, Salzburg 1969; Kunst in Österreich. 1918-1938, Österreichische Galerie, Schloß Halbturn, Wien 1984, S. 67ff; Kunst des 20.Jahrhunderts. Bestandskatalog der Österreichischen Galerie des 20. Jahrhunderts, Bd.I, Wien 1993, S. 25ff; Nachschlagewerke: Vollmer, Schmidt, mit Lit.