Helge Ernst was a painter and graphic artist born in Copenhagen, the son of bookbinder Frederik Ernst and Dagmar Martine Christense Sørensen. He was educated at Fredricksberg Technical School from 1940 to1941. Subsequently he received multiple travel scholarships including Wilstrup in 1942, 1944; Hielmstierne-Rosencrone in 1945, Købke in 1954; National på IIIème Festival International de Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1971; LOs Kulturpr. in 1983; I.G. Prix in 1984; and Stat. Kunstfond in 1990.

     Helge Ernst came to reflect in his painting a number of his contemporary changing style traits. He began as a naturalist in a distinctly Danish and expressionist emphasis on tradition, which spoke of Albert Gottschalk and dark painters such as Erik Hoppe, Per Lergaard and Hjorth Nielsen among his prerequisites. The set-up and interior were early among the favorite subject areas, and stimulated by the encounter with Cézanne's painting, which became a lifelong reference, Ernst soon felt the need to partly make the color brighter and lighter, partly to arrange and structure his natural impressions in a tighter or rigorous pictorial form.

     In the years after World War II, Ernst was temporarily inspired by the symbolist Norwegian art. In the 50s he approached non-figurative painting, whereby the surface was divided and filled in by intersecting lines or by rhythmically activated line bundles.

     For the last twenty years of his life, he partially returned to figuration, letting figurative elements "melt into a Cubist-inspired form," as he put it. The resemblance to nature could be striking, especially in commissioned assignments such as the award-winning posters for DSB and the portrait of Anker Jørensen. Until a few years before his death, he made a significant contribution as an art communicator, partly through short films, lectures and books, and partly through his clearly written newspaper reviews.

     The artist is represented in the following public collections:

• AROS - Aarhus Art Museum

• Bornholm Art Museum

• BRANDTS - (Painting) Museum of Art & Visual Culture

• Esbjerg Art Museum

• Fuglsang Art Museum

• Horsens Art Museum ARTS

• Museum of Modern Art Aalborg

• Museum Jorn

• Museum Sønderjylland (Brundlund Castle Art Museum)

• Museum Sønderjylland (Kunstmuseet i Tønder)

• Museum Vestsjælland (Odsherred Kunst)

• Randers Art Museum

• Ribe Art Museum

• Skovgaard Museum

• Statens Museum of Art (The National Gallery)

• The Guide Museums (Art)

• Vendsyssel Art Museum

• The Workers' Museum – Arbejdermuseet Copenhagen