Wilhelm Marstrand
Encyclopedia
Nicolai Wilhelm Nikolaj Marstrand (24 December 1810 - 25 March 1873), painter
and illustrator
, was born in Copenhagen
, Denmark
to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned artists belonging to the Golden Age of Danish Painting
.
, painter and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art
(Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) in Copenhagen
, was a close friend of Wilhelm's father, and it was to all appearance Eckersberg who recommended an artistic career for young Wilhelm. Wilhelm had already shown artistic talent, tackling difficult subjects such as group scenes with many figures and complicated composition.
At 16 years of age Marstrand thus began his studies at the Academy under Eckersberg, attending the school from 1826 to 1833. Although his interests had a firm hold in genre themes - depiction of the daily life he observed around him in Copenhagen's streets, especially middle class society - he would soon reach for the pinnacle of Academic
acceptability: the history painting
.
History painting displayed what was grand - classical themes from mythology
and history
, rather than daily life. The traditions, and the taste of traditional art critics, strongly favored it. It was therefore something to strive for, in spite of Marstrand's equal skill at depicting more modest themes, and of the enjoyment he had in portraying the crowds, the diversions of the city, and the humor and story behind the hustle and bustle. Marstrand's creative production would, through many paintings and illustrations made not only during the 1830s but throughout his life, never abandon this inclination toward displaying the simple life of his times.
At the same time Christian Waagepetersen, wine merchant to the Danish court and supporter of the arts, also became an important patron for Marstrand during this early period. His painting "A musical evening party" (Et musikalsk aftenselskab) (1834), depicts such an occasion at the home of Waagepetersen, and was an important transition painting for Marstrand.
Despite an unmistakably growing recognition, Marstrand never received the Academy's gold medal. This medal was coveted not only for its great prestige, but also because it came with a travel stipend for furthering the laureate's artistic training. Marstrand's attempts at winning the medal were unsuccessful both in 1833 with his neoclassical
"Flight to Egypt" (Flugten til Ægypten) and in 1835 with "Odysseus and Nausikaa". This was a disappointment, as he had won both available silver medals in 1833.
Gold medal or not however, the Academy did award Marstrand a travel stipend. In August 1836 he began the first of his many travels, going by way of Germany
to Rome
in Italy
, stopping on the way at Berlin
, Dresden
, Nuremberg
, and Munich
. In Italy, where he stayed for four years, he painted many idealized depictions of daily life, especially festivities. He was enchanted with Italy and with the ways of life of the Italian people. He portrayed a colorful, joyous, and romantic
view of them, infused with a new found ideal of beauty.
He also painted a number of portrait
s during this first stay in Italy. Among these are portraits of other travelling Danish artists, such as Christen Købke
and travelling partner Johan Adolph Kittendorff. He completed sketches for a large portrait of botanist and politician, J.F. Schouw, which would be later realized as a painting.
on the way. In Denmark he strove to bring back that which he learned in Italy, and allow it to develop in his home culture.
He became a member of the art Academy on 19 June 1843, after submitting the painting "Erasmus Montanus" as his admissions piece. He became a professor at the Academy in 1848. He endeavored to let his students evolve according to their own skills and interests. Among these were the two most renowned Skagen
painters Peder Severin Krøyer
and Michael Ancher, as well as Carl Bloch and Kristian Zahrtmann
.
Marstrand continued to travel regularly around Europe
throughout his life, to (London
, Vienna
, Belgium
, but especially to Italy
and Rome
), at times in the company of such fellow artists such as P.C. Skovgaard and Johan Adolph Kittendorff, or of art historian and critic Niels Lauritz Høyen
.
Marstrand also continued to apply inspiration from Italy in his paintings. He now supplied it with themes from literature and the theatre, portraying scenes from Don Quixote by Cervantes, as well as from Erasmus Montanus, or other plays by Ludvig Holberg
. Holberg's works would in fact provide Marstrand with an endless stream of inspiration. He also continued to paint genre paintings, and to make sketches, caricatures, and drawings, capturing the spirit of his time with gentle or more biting satire.
On June 8, 1850 Marstrand married Margrethe Christine Weidemann, with whom he was to have five children. His family became yet a new source for his art. There are similarities in his portraits with children to those made by Constantin Hansen
, a contemporary, friend, and also student of Eckersberg.
Marstrand returned to portrait painting with even more seriousness in the late 1850s, depicting some of the key figures of the age, including Constantin Hansen (1852, 1862), Bernhard Severin Ingemann
(1860), Grundtvig (1863), Høyen (1869), the architect Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll
, not forgetting his earlier portraiture of Købke in 1839.
During the 1850s and 1860s, and especially after the death of his wife in 1867, he finally turned to religious themes. He also gave renewed attention to mythology and history. He painted two remarkable great murals for King Christian IV's chapel in Roskilde
Cathedral in 1864-1866, both of which have contributed to this popular monarch's enduring fame. He painted an important altarpiece at Faaborg Church. In 1871, not long before his death, he delivered several massive wallpaintings commissioned for the University of Copenhagen
's Celebration Hall. This historical, religious, & monumental development added yet an essential dimension to the already broad scope of Marstrand's work.
At the same time, during the last ten years of his life, part of his work became very intimate. A series of paintings made during the last 6 years of his life featured a naked woman, while others were deeply religious, more inwardly so than the monumental work.
Marstrand was named Director (Chancellor) of the art Academy during two periods: the first period from 1853–1857, the second from 1863 until his death. In 1867 he was awarded the rank of State Councillor (etatsråd).
In October 1871 Marstrand was struck with a brain hemorrhage and partially paralysed, losing much of his work capacity before his death in 1873.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, was born in 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...
, 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...
to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned artists belonging to the Golden Age of Danish Painting
Golden Age of Danish Painting
The Danish Golden Age covers the period of creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century. Although Copenhagen had suffered from fires, bombardment and national bankruptcy, the arts took on a new period of creativity catalysed by Romanticism from Germany...
.
Early development and Academy training
Marstrand studied at Copenhagen's Metropolitan School (Metropolitanskolen), but had little interest in books, and left around 16 years of age. Christoffer Wilhelm EckersbergChristoffer 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...
, painter and professor 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 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...
, was a close friend of Wilhelm's father, and it was to all appearance Eckersberg who recommended an artistic career for young Wilhelm. Wilhelm had already shown artistic talent, tackling difficult subjects such as group scenes with many figures and complicated composition.
At 16 years of age Marstrand thus began his studies at the Academy under Eckersberg, attending the school from 1826 to 1833. Although his interests had a firm hold in genre themes - depiction of the daily life he observed around him in Copenhagen's streets, especially middle class society - he would soon reach for the pinnacle of Academic
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
acceptability: the history painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
.
History painting displayed what was grand - classical themes from mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, rather than daily life. The traditions, and the taste of traditional art critics, strongly favored it. It was therefore something to strive for, in spite of Marstrand's equal skill at depicting more modest themes, and of the enjoyment he had in portraying the crowds, the diversions of the city, and the humor and story behind the hustle and bustle. Marstrand's creative production would, through many paintings and illustrations made not only during the 1830s but throughout his life, never abandon this inclination toward displaying the simple life of his times.
At the same time Christian Waagepetersen, wine merchant to the Danish court and supporter of the arts, also became an important patron for Marstrand during this early period. His painting "A musical evening party" (Et musikalsk aftenselskab) (1834), depicts such an occasion at the home of Waagepetersen, and was an important transition painting for Marstrand.
Despite an unmistakably growing recognition, Marstrand never received the Academy's gold medal. This medal was coveted not only for its great prestige, but also because it came with a travel stipend for furthering the laureate's artistic training. Marstrand's attempts at winning the medal were unsuccessful both in 1833 with his neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
"Flight to Egypt" (Flugten til Ægypten) and in 1835 with "Odysseus and Nausikaa". This was a disappointment, as he had won both available silver medals in 1833.
Foreign travel
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, stopping on the way at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. In Italy, where he stayed for four years, he painted many idealized depictions of daily life, especially festivities. He was enchanted with Italy and with the ways of life of the Italian people. He portrayed a colorful, joyous, and romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
view of them, infused with a new found ideal of beauty.
He also painted a number of portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s during this first stay in Italy. Among these are portraits of other travelling Danish artists, such as Christen Købke
Christen Købke
Christen Schiellerup Købke , Danish painter, was born in Copenhagen to Peter Berendt Købke, a baker, and his wife Cecilie Margrete. He was one of 11 children...
and travelling partner Johan Adolph Kittendorff. He completed sketches for a large portrait of botanist and politician, J.F. Schouw, which would be later realized as a painting.
Career development
Marstrand returned to Denmark at the end of 1841, stopping in Munich and ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on the way. In Denmark he strove to bring back that which he learned in Italy, and allow it to develop in his home culture.
He became a member of the art Academy on 19 June 1843, after submitting the painting "Erasmus Montanus" as his admissions piece. He became a professor at the Academy in 1848. He endeavored to let his students evolve according to their own skills and interests. Among these were the two most renowned Skagen
Skagen
Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 , in Region Nordjylland on the northernmost tip of Vendsyssel-Thy, a part of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark...
painters Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer , known as P.S. Krøyer, was a Norwegian-Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and undeniably the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final...
and Michael Ancher, as well as Carl Bloch and Kristian Zahrtmann
Kristian Zahrtmann
Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Philipsen, who broke away from both the strictures of traditional Academicism and the...
.
Marstrand continued to travel regularly around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
throughout his life, to (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, but especially to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), at times in the company of such fellow artists such as P.C. Skovgaard and Johan Adolph Kittendorff, or of art historian and critic 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...
.
Marstrand also continued to apply inspiration from Italy in his paintings. He now supplied it with themes from literature and the theatre, portraying scenes from Don Quixote by Cervantes, as well as from Erasmus Montanus, or other plays by Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
. Holberg's works would in fact provide Marstrand with an endless stream of inspiration. He also continued to paint genre paintings, and to make sketches, caricatures, and drawings, capturing the spirit of his time with gentle or more biting satire.
On June 8, 1850 Marstrand married Margrethe Christine Weidemann, with whom he was to have five children. His family became yet a new source for his art. There are similarities in his portraits with children to those made by 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...
, a contemporary, friend, and also student of Eckersberg.
Marstrand returned to portrait painting with even more seriousness in the late 1850s, depicting some of the key figures of the age, including Constantin Hansen (1852, 1862), Bernhard Severin Ingemann
Bernhard Severin Ingemann
Bernhard Severin Ingemann was a Danish novelist and poet.Ingemann was born in Thorkildstrup, on the island of Falster, Denmark. The son of a vicar, he was left fatherless in his youth. While a student at the University of Copenhagen he published his first collection of poems Bernhard Severin...
(1860), Grundtvig (1863), Høyen (1869), the architect Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll
Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll
Michael Gottlieb Birckner Bindesbøll was a Danish architect active during the Danish Golden Age in the first half of the 19th century. Most known for his design of Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen, he was a key figure in the stylistic shift in Danish architecture from late classicism to Historicism...
, not forgetting his earlier portraiture of Købke in 1839.
During the 1850s and 1860s, and especially after the death of his wife in 1867, he finally turned to religious themes. He also gave renewed attention to mythology and history. He painted two remarkable great murals for King Christian IV's chapel in Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
Cathedral in 1864-1866, both of which have contributed to this popular monarch's enduring fame. He painted an important altarpiece at Faaborg Church. In 1871, not long before his death, he delivered several massive wallpaintings commissioned for the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
's Celebration Hall. This historical, religious, & monumental development added yet an essential dimension to the already broad scope of Marstrand's work.
At the same time, during the last ten years of his life, part of his work became very intimate. A series of paintings made during the last 6 years of his life featured a naked woman, while others were deeply religious, more inwardly so than the monumental work.
Marstrand was named Director (Chancellor) of the art Academy during two periods: the first period from 1853–1857, the second from 1863 until his death. In 1867 he was awarded the rank of State Councillor (etatsråd).
In October 1871 Marstrand was struck with a brain hemorrhage and partially paralysed, losing much of his work capacity before his death in 1873.
Posthumous reception
To his contemporaries and a further few generations, Marstrand ranked among Denmark's great painters of all time, to some authorities perhaps as the very greatest. Certainly, he was vastly productive and mastered a remarkable variety of genres - his disinterest for landscape art being a notable exception. More relevant today is the rather striking number of his works which are now familiar signposts of Danish history and culture: scenes from drawing-rooms and streets of Copenhagen during his younger days; the festivity and public life captured in Rome; the many representative portraits of citizens and innovators; even the monumentalist commissions for university and monarchy. Still, as the 20th Century progressed, his work had become less valued artistically and downright unfashionable; conversely, recent decades seem to have afforded new appreciation.External links
- KID Art Index (Kunstindex Danmark)
- Danish Biographical Encyclopedia (Dansk biografisk Leksikon) at Project Runeberg. Madsen, KarlKarl MadsenCarl Johan Wilhelm Madsen, commonly known as Karl Madsen, was a Danish painter and art historian who after close connections with the Skagen Painters joined the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he was museum director from 1911–1925....
. Wilhelm Marstrand. Copenhagen, DK: Kunstforeningen, 1905. Marstrand, Otto. Maleren Wilhelm Marstrand. Copenhagen, DK: Thaning & Appel, 2003. ISBN 87-413-6420-1. - Nørregård-Nielsen, Hans Edvard. The Golden Age of Danish Art: Drawings from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. Alexandria, VA: Art Services International, 1995. ISBN 0-88397-115-1. Valentiner, Gitte. Wilhelm Marstrand: Scenebilleder. Copenhagen, DK: Gyldendal, 1992. ISBN 87-00-04517-9.