Hi, my name is Philip Jepsen
That would be me on the left – you can tell because I look nothing like a mermaid, and everything else on this website is about mermaids.
I became interested in mermaid art and particularly in mermaid sculpture, partly because I grew up in Denmark, home to Hans Christian Andersen, author of the fairy tale The Little Mermaid. And as a Dane, The Little Mermaid is pretty much part of one’s culture and upbringing.
This site is about mermaids on planet Earth
Why? Because mermaids are all around us. Lots of them. No, not actual live mermaids of course, but mermaids in stories, paintings, graphic arts, movies, sculptures and other artforms.
The mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor of The Little Mermaid is world famous and is an icon of Denmark. It is said to be the most photographed statue in the world. There are replicas in at least 11 other places around the world.
But the subject of mermaids goes back a long time before Hans Christian Andersen, and far beyond the borders of Denmark. Men and women have speculated about mermaids through the ages, and much art has been created showing what mermaids and their environment might look like.
This rich cultural heritage involving mermaids spans millennia and many corners of the Earth, from New Zealand and Australia, through Asia, Greece, much of Europe, India, Latin America, North America and more.
The Statues section of the site is dedicated to the surprisingly large number of mermaid sculptures around us, both in public places and private collections, all over the world. Some are astoundingly beautiful, and many have a story out of legend or folk lore, or a great story on how they came to be.
I've collected a lot of excellent photos on these, data on who created them, why they are where they are, when they were created, the stories or legends that inspired them, and of course exactly where they are located – if available to the public – so they can easily be visited.
And I published a large 200-page full-color coffee-table book about mermaid statues and sculptures available to the public – the Mermaids of Earth – this book is now available on this site and on Amazon.
This website also has a wealth of information about mermaid tails, mermaid costumes, mermaid dresses, mermaid paintings, figurines, mermaid fountains and all kinds of other mermaid art, mermaid products and mermaid decor.
Mermaids have been portrayed as mystical, dangerous, sensuous, beautiful, alluring, treacherous, longing, beastly, demure, aesthetic and sexy. There are different kinds of mermaids and big differences in how artists conceive their mermaids. This site will show some of the mermaids I have come across, representing all these qualities and more.
Enjoy,
Philip Jepsen
