Bengt Nordenberg (April 22, 1822 – December 18, 1902) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
artist. He belonged to the
Düsseldorf school of painting and is best known for his
genre paintings
Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...
with everyday life scenes from the
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norway i ...
,
Skåne
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
and
Blekinge
Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second- ...
areas of
Sweden. He moved to
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
in the 1850s.
Biography
Nordenberg was born at
Jämshög in
Blekinge County
Blekinge County ( sv, Blekinge län) is a county or ''län'' in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative countie ...
, Sweden. He was one of nine siblings born to Per Jönsson Nord (1785-1854) and his wife Sissa Bengtsdotter (b. 1792). He grew up in poverty and became an apprentice to a painter in
Sölvesborg.
In 1843 he fulfilled his wish to come to
Stockholm and study at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...
. In the autumn of 1851, he went to the
Düsseldorf Academy
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, where first
Theodor Hildebrandt and then later,
Adolph Tidemand became his teachers. In particular, the latter had a big influence on Nordenberg's painting style and subject matter. For some time he worked as an assistant to Tidemand, making reproductions of his paintings. Nordenberg also painted pictures of middle-class and upper-class life, and also religious paintings and
altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...
s. He painted altarpieces in several
Småland
Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden.
Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...
churches, including at Stenbrohult in
Älmhult and Gårdsby in
Växjö
Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...
.
In 1856, Nordenberg received a travel grant from the Swedish state. He studied with French history painter
Thomas Couture
Thomas Couture (21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught such later luminaries of the art world as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge,Wilkinson, Burke. ''The Life and Works o ...
(1815–1879) for one and a half years, made a short stop in Düsseldorf, and in the autumn of 1858 he went to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. He returned soon to Düsseldorf, where he settled for life. From 1856 to 1889 he was a member of
Malkasten, an artists' association there. He also gave private lessons to Swedish artists including
Peter Eskilsson (1820-1872), Augusta Jensen (1858-1936) and his nephew Henrik Nordenberg (1857-1928).
Personal life
In 1855, Nordenberg married Nanny Maria Charlotta Sutthof (1831-1905).
Gallery
Image:Bengt Nordenberg - Kyrkrodd, Dalarna.jpg, ''Rowing to the Church, Dalarna'' (1854)
Image:Bengt Nordenberg - Veteranerna.jpg, ''The Veterans'' (1882)
Image:Bengt Nordenberg - En riven get.jpg, ''A Torn Goat''
Image:Bengt Nordenberg - Herdefamilj med getter.jpg, ''Sheppard Family with Goats'' (1863)
Image:Bengt Nordenberg - Vinterfärd.jpg, ''Winter Travel'' (1882)
File:Avsked från föräldrahemmet, Bengt Nordenberg - Hallwylska museet - 13192.tif, ''Leaving home'' (1876)
References
Other sources
*Ann-Marie Elmqvist (1994) ''Bengt Nordenberg: folklivsmålaren'' (A.-M. Elmqvist)
External links
Bengt Nordenberg in ''Nordisk familjebok''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordenberg, Bengt
1822 births
1902 deaths
People from Blekinge County
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni
19th-century Swedish painters
Swedish male painters
Swedish genre painters
Düsseldorf school of painting
19th-century Swedish male artists