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Lot Essay
‘Rightly, Christopher Wilhelm Eckersberg has been called the father of Danish painting, for it was he who tied together the diverse strands of Danish and foreign artistic traditions and bequeathed this fusion to his students, enabling them to climb to high levels of artistic achievement’ (N. Kent, The Triumph of Light and Nature, Nordic Art 1740-1940, London, 1987, p. 30).
Eckersberg first studied with Nicolai Abildgaard in Copenhagen, but in 1810 went to Paris to study with Jacques-Louis David, who taught him 'to paint after Nature and the Antique in order to find Truth'. By 1813 he was in Rome, and he returned to Copenhagen in 1816.
Danish painters of this time very much wanted to escape from political and economic catastrophes and they turned to the subject matter at hand, scenes of everyday life. Eckersberg, for example, combined the technical lessons he had learnt in France and Italy with Danish subject matter; portraits of local dignitaries such as the present lot and maritime subjects.
Eckersberg first studied with Nicolai Abildgaard in Copenhagen, but in 1810 went to Paris to study with Jacques-Louis David, who taught him 'to paint after Nature and the Antique in order to find Truth'. By 1813 he was in Rome, and he returned to Copenhagen in 1816.
Danish painters of this time very much wanted to escape from political and economic catastrophes and they turned to the subject matter at hand, scenes of everyday life. Eckersberg, for example, combined the technical lessons he had learnt in France and Italy with Danish subject matter; portraits of local dignitaries such as the present lot and maritime subjects.