A Wooded River Landscape with Deer beyond

Born in Balle in Eastern Denmark, Peder Mork Mönsted moved to Copenhagen where he studied at the Academy from 1875-76. He was taught by the leading Danish artists of that time learning landscape and portrait painting from Andries Fritz and figure painting from Julius Exner. Mönsted not only painted the Danish countryside and coastline, but traveled widely throughout his long career, frequently visiting Switzerland, France, Italy and North Africa. The varied landscape of the Italian countryside was a popular source of inspiration for him and for many other Scandinavian artists of the nineteenth century. His artistic production was at its heignt at the close of the 'Golden Age' of Danish painting and his naturalistic plein air views made him the leading Danish landscapist of his time.

The present landscape depicts a light-filled forest with a brook that disappears into the background and a rambling dirt path with deer grazing in the distance. The large leafy plant species known as Petasites abounds in the foreground. What is stunning about the canvas is Mönsted's clarity of light and his realistic rendering of the natural surroundings. These stylistic characteristics reveal the fusion of influences from two noted painters, Christian Kobke, an outstanding colorist and Pieter Kristian Skoogaard, a romantic nationalist painter. With a remarkable eye for detail and sensitivity for color, Mönsted never ceased to capture the grandeur and character of a landscape.