Niels Lergaard
Encyclopedia
Niels Lergaard was a Danish painter. After training as a house painter, he spent a few years in Norway
, where he became interested in Norwegian landscape painting. On returning to Denmark
he studied and later taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen (1917–20).
In the late 1920s, he moved to the picturesque Danish island of Bornholm
where his paintings displayed the careful construction that characterized his work, for example in his landscapes of Gudhjem
. He painted the sea, with a high horizon, the coast, figures with precisely constructed silhouettes, or Bornholm’s steep cliffs.
The dark colours he used in the 1930s were gradually replaced by a lighter palette. He worked to release new expressive possibilities from oil colours and in this way further emphasized the luminous power and depth of the picture plane. Thus his landscapes display a deeply symbolic, transcendent power.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, where he became interested in Norwegian landscape painting. On returning to Denmark
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...
he studied and later taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen (1917–20).
In the late 1920s, he moved to the picturesque Danish island of Bornholm
Bornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
where his paintings displayed the careful construction that characterized his work, for example in his landscapes of Gudhjem
Gudhjem
Gudhjem is a small town and fishing port on the northern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. Its population is 724 ....
. He painted the sea, with a high horizon, the coast, figures with precisely constructed silhouettes, or Bornholm’s steep cliffs.
The dark colours he used in the 1930s were gradually replaced by a lighter palette. He worked to release new expressive possibilities from oil colours and in this way further emphasized the luminous power and depth of the picture plane. Thus his landscapes display a deeply symbolic, transcendent power.