Christen Dalsgaard
Encyclopedia
Christen Dalsgaard was a Danish
painter, a late student of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
.
. He showed early signs of artistic talent, and received training as a craft painter. In spring 1841 Niels Rademacher, a visiting landscape painter, encouraged the young artist and convinced his parents of their son’s talent.
Later that year he traveled to Copenhagen
and began his art studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Art
(Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) in October 1841. In December 1841 he began private studies with painter Martinus Rørbye
. These last until 1847.
In 1843 he began his studies at the Academy’s freehand drawing school, and the following year at the Academy’s plaster school. Home during the summer and holidays he busied himself by filling sketchbooks with studies of the local landscape, costumes and way of life. These formed a lifelong basis for his art. He also began collecting local folk costumes, another lifelong interest.
In 1844 Dalsgaard cames under the influence of Niels Lauritz Høyen
, art historian, who held a famous lecture “On the conditions for a Scandinavian national art’s development” ("Om betingelserne for en skandinavisk nationalkunsts udvikling"). Høyen called for artists to search for subject matter in the folk life of their country instead of searching for themes in other lands, such as Italy (which was at that time considered a requirement for an artist’s training). Dalsgaard was a loyal follower of Højen’s artistic ideals, and forwent the customary journey to Italy, choosing rather to concentrate on themes closer to home.
In March 1846 he began at the Academy’s model school under professors Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
, J. L. Lund
og Martinus Rørbye
.
He had his exhibition debut at Charlottenborg
in 1847, and continued showing there every year with few exceptions.
at the church in his hometown of Skive. He goes on to paint a number of other altarpieces in the years to come.
He has his big breakthrough in 1856 with the painting "Mormoner på besøg hos en tømrer på landet" ("Mormons visit a country carpenter"). The painting, created only 6 years after the missionary’s arrival in Denmark, is set in the shadowed interior of a provincial cottage. A group of people are gathered around a table, listening to a missionary’s message. Light filters in through a small window and an open door. It is a study of contemporary daily life, carefully depicting the interior and costumes of the people in detail. The painting was donated to the Danish National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst)
in 1871.
He married Hansine Marie Hansen on 21 August 1857. The newlyweds purchased a house in Frederiksberg
. Their circle of social acquaintances included Constantin Hansen
, Niels Lauritz Høyen
, Wilhelm Marstrand
, P.C. Skovgaard, Vilhelm Kyhn
, Godtfred Rump, Frederik Vermehren
and Julius Exner
.
He received the Academy’s Neuhausen's prize (Neuhausens præmie) in both 1859 and 1861.
He began teaching drawing at Sorø Academy
in 1862.
He was selected to become and became a member of the Academy of Art in 1872.
He exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris for the first time in 1878.
He painted his famous painting "I wonder when he will come home" (Mon han dog ikke skulle komme?) in 1879. This painting is typical of his style. The picture features a young woman standing in an open doorway looking off to one side. One foot is on the doorframe, and one foot is on the ground outside. The interior is dark and shadowed. The outside is a sunlit agrarian landscape. The title of the painting refers to her inner dialogue.
In 1890 he finished the first of 21 small Bible pictures, a project which he continued to work on for the next ten years.
He was named a professor at the Academy of Art in 1892, and quit his position at Sorø Academy.
He died on 11 February 1907 in Sorø.
In 1914 the artist’s widow contributed a portion of his folk costume collection to the National Museum. She died in Sorø that same year on 3 November. The National Museum acquired the remainder of the folk costume collection in 1921.
folk scenes rooted in the grasslands of Jutland
. He paid great attention to details– folk costumes, manners and habits of the people, architecture and landscape. He was a storyteller. His artistic works, as well as those of his contemporaries helped open the way for more realistic paintings in the late 1800’s.
A collection of his work can be found at the Skive Art Museum. Other paintings can be found, among other museums at the National Museum of Art.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
painter, a late student of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig , to Henrik Vilhelm Eckersberg, painter and carpenter, and Ingeborg Nielsdatter...
.
Early life and education
The son of the estate owner, Christen Dalsgaard was born on 30 October 1824 at Krabbesholm Manor near Skive in JutlandJutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
. He showed early signs of artistic talent, and received training as a craft painter. In spring 1841 Niels Rademacher, a visiting landscape painter, encouraged the young artist and convinced his parents of their son’s talent.
Later that year he traveled to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and began his art studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Art
Royal Danish Academy of Art
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts has provided a practice-oriented complement to the scholarly investigation of the arts carried out at Danish universities for more than 250 years, playing a crucial part in the development of the distinctive tradition of the art of Denmark.- History :The Royal...
(Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) in October 1841. In December 1841 he began private studies with painter Martinus Rørbye
Martinus Rørbye
Martinus Christian Wesseltoft Rørbye was a Danish painter, known both for genre works and landscapes. He was a central figure of the Golden Age of Danish painting during the first half of the 19th century....
. These last until 1847.
In 1843 he began his studies at the Academy’s freehand drawing school, and the following year at the Academy’s plaster school. Home during the summer and holidays he busied himself by filling sketchbooks with studies of the local landscape, costumes and way of life. These formed a lifelong basis for his art. He also began collecting local folk costumes, another lifelong interest.
In 1844 Dalsgaard cames under the influence of Niels Lauritz Høyen
Niels Lauritz Høyen
Niels Laurits Andreas Høyen, , Danish is considered to be the first Danish art historian and critic. He promoted a Danish nationalistic art through his writings and lectures, and exerted a far reaching effect on contemporary artists...
, art historian, who held a famous lecture “On the conditions for a Scandinavian national art’s development” ("Om betingelserne for en skandinavisk nationalkunsts udvikling"). Høyen called for artists to search for subject matter in the folk life of their country instead of searching for themes in other lands, such as Italy (which was at that time considered a requirement for an artist’s training). Dalsgaard was a loyal follower of Højen’s artistic ideals, and forwent the customary journey to Italy, choosing rather to concentrate on themes closer to home.
In March 1846 he began at the Academy’s model school under professors Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig , to Henrik Vilhelm Eckersberg, painter and carpenter, and Ingeborg Nielsdatter...
, J. L. Lund
J. L. Lund
Johan Ludwig Gebhard Lund , , Danish painter, was born in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, to master painter Hans Giewert Lund and his wife Maria Magdalena Christina Bremer...
og Martinus Rørbye
Martinus Rørbye
Martinus Christian Wesseltoft Rørbye was a Danish painter, known both for genre works and landscapes. He was a central figure of the Golden Age of Danish painting during the first half of the 19th century....
.
He had his exhibition debut at Charlottenborg
Charlottenborg Palace
Charlottenborg Palace is a large town mansion located on the corner of Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally built as a residence for Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, it has served as the base of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts since its foundation in 1754...
in 1847, and continued showing there every year with few exceptions.
An artistic career flourishes
In 1855 he painted his first altarpieceAltarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
at the church in his hometown of Skive. He goes on to paint a number of other altarpieces in the years to come.
He has his big breakthrough in 1856 with the painting "Mormoner på besøg hos en tømrer på landet" ("Mormons visit a country carpenter"). The painting, created only 6 years after the missionary’s arrival in Denmark, is set in the shadowed interior of a provincial cottage. A group of people are gathered around a table, listening to a missionary’s message. Light filters in through a small window and an open door. It is a study of contemporary daily life, carefully depicting the interior and costumes of the people in detail. The painting was donated to the Danish National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst)
Statens Museum for Kunst
Statens Museum for Kunst is the Danish national gallery located in Copenhagen....
in 1871.
He married Hansine Marie Hansen on 21 August 1857. The newlyweds purchased a house in Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It surrounded by the city of Copenhagen. The municipality, co-extensive with its seat, covers an area of and has a total population of 98,782 making it the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, the fifth most...
. Their circle of social acquaintances included Constantin Hansen
Constantin Hansen
Carl Christian Constantin Hansen was one of the painters associated with the Golden Age of Danish Painting. He was deeply interested in literature and mythology, and inspired by art historian Niels Lauritz Høyen, he tried to recreate a national historical painting based on Norse mythology...
, Niels Lauritz Høyen
Niels Lauritz Høyen
Niels Laurits Andreas Høyen, , Danish is considered to be the first Danish art historian and critic. He promoted a Danish nationalistic art through his writings and lectures, and exerted a far reaching effect on contemporary artists...
, Wilhelm Marstrand
Wilhelm Marstrand
Nicolai Wilhelm Nikolaj Marstrand , painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith...
, P.C. Skovgaard, Vilhelm Kyhn
Vilhelm Kyhn
Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn, was a Danish landscape painter who belonged to the generation of national romantic painters immediately after the Danish Golden Age and before the Modern Breakthrough...
, Godtfred Rump, Frederik Vermehren
Frederik Vermehren
Johan Frederik Nikolai Vermehren, also known as Frederik Vermehren, , Danish realistic genre and portrait painter, was born in Ringsted to glazier Peter Frederik Nikolai Vermehren and his wife Sofie Amalie. His artistic career took place during the period of Danish art between the Golden Age of...
and Julius Exner
Julius Exner
Johan Julius Exner, , Danish genre painter, was born in Copenhagen to Johann Gottlieb Exner, a Czech musician from Bohemia, who came to Denmark during the Napoleonic period, and his wife Karen Jørgensdatter...
.
He received the Academy’s Neuhausen's prize (Neuhausens præmie) in both 1859 and 1861.
He began teaching drawing at Sorø Academy
Sorø Academy
Sorø Academy is a boarding school and public gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by the Crown after the Reformation, and ever since, on and off, it has served...
in 1862.
He was selected to become and became a member of the Academy of Art in 1872.
He exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris for the first time in 1878.
He painted his famous painting "I wonder when he will come home" (Mon han dog ikke skulle komme?) in 1879. This painting is typical of his style. The picture features a young woman standing in an open doorway looking off to one side. One foot is on the doorframe, and one foot is on the ground outside. The interior is dark and shadowed. The outside is a sunlit agrarian landscape. The title of the painting refers to her inner dialogue.
In 1890 he finished the first of 21 small Bible pictures, a project which he continued to work on for the next ten years.
He was named a professor at the Academy of Art in 1892, and quit his position at Sorø Academy.
He died on 11 February 1907 in Sorø.
In 1914 the artist’s widow contributed a portion of his folk costume collection to the National Museum. She died in Sorø that same year on 3 November. The National Museum acquired the remainder of the folk costume collection in 1921.
Works
Christen Dalsgaard, like his contemporaries Julius Exner and Frederik Vermehren, painted primarily genre paintings, national romanticRomantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
folk scenes rooted in the grasslands of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
. He paid great attention to details– folk costumes, manners and habits of the people, architecture and landscape. He was a storyteller. His artistic works, as well as those of his contemporaries helped open the way for more realistic paintings in the late 1800’s.
A collection of his work can be found at the Skive Art Museum. Other paintings can be found, among other museums at the National Museum of Art.