Christen Dalsgaard

Christen Dalsgaard (October 30, 1824-February 11, 1907), Danish painter, was born on the Krabbesholm estate on the fjord near Skive, and was son of the estate owner, Jens Dalsgaard.

Life

Childhood years

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.

Training as an artist
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 forewent 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.

An artistic career flourishes

In 1855 he painted his first altarpiece 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 National Museum of Art (Statens Museum for Kunst) in 1871.

He married Hansine Marie Hansen on August 21, 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 og 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 February 11, 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 November 3. 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 romantic 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.

The paintings are the excellent portrayal of the events and scenes that we see around us. The painters are the best cameras of the world. They reproduce many different types of pictures. They even draw imaginary pictures that do not exist in this world. We tend to use both thinned oil paints and dense oil paints. Masterpieces can be dyed more than once, but each time it may be different from the existing paintings.h

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