Johan Edward Bergh (29 March 1828 – 23 September 1880) was a Swedish

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

, associated with the

Düsseldorf School 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 ...

Biography

Bergh was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Severin Bergh and Emma Forsström. His parents were shopkeepers. He attended Maria Læromsskola then in 1844 went to

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. He initially studied the natural sciences, but switched to legal studies and graduated with a master's degree in 1849. At first, he worked as a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

at the

Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal ( sv, Svea hovrätt), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. It is located in the Wrangel Palace, on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. History The Svea Co ...

and

Stockholm City Hall Stockholm City Hall ( sv, Stockholms stadshus, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands ...

. His interest in art began during a trip to

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

, where he met several artists and became friends with the architect,

Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander (June 23, 1816 – May 9, 1881) was a Swedish architect and artist. Biography Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Georg Fredrik Scholander (1785-1825) and Karin Nyström (1786 ...

. When he got home, he contacted Johan Way, an instructor at his alma mater, who numbered painting among his many accomplishments. After that, he increasingly devoted less time to the law and more to art. His first attempt to enroll at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine 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, architec ...

was rejected, but he was not discouraged. He began exhibiting under the auspices of the Swedish Art Association ('). One of those exhibitions was attended by Count who was an official at the Royal Academy. He was impressed with Bergh's work and assured him that a new application would be accepted. By 1854, he had qualified for a scholarship that enabled him to take a three-year study trip. He visited

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he studied at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová, ...

with Norwegian romanticist painter

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

. He also had some lessons from German landscape and seascape painter

Andreas Achenbach Andreas Achenbach (29 September 1815, Kassel – 1 April 1910, Düsseldorf) was a German landscape and seascape painter in the Romantic style. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Düsseldorf School. His brother, Oswald, was also a ...

and the Swiss landscape painter,

Alexandre Calame Alexandre Calame (28 May 1810 – 19 March 1864) was a Swiss landscape painter, associated with the Düsseldorf School. Biography He was born in Arabie at the time belonging to Corsier-sur-Vevey, today a part of Vevey. He was the son of a skill ...

. In 1857, he established a landscape painting school at the Royal Academy and became a professor there in 1861. In 1862, he was one of the founding members of

Sällskapet Idun is a Swedish association for men, founded in 1862 in Stockholm. Founding Sällskapet Idun traces its founding back to 22 November 1862 at the Hotel Fenix in Stockholm, Sweden. Its founders consisted of Edward Bergh and Johan Fredrik Höckert ...

, a men's association. In the late 1860s, he moved away from the more traditional landscape subjects and began focusing on scenes from central Sweden. He was awarded a gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1867) The International Exposition of 1867 (french: Exposition universelle 'art et d'industriede 1867), was the second world's fair to be held in Paris, from 1 April to 3 November 1867. A number of nations were represented at the fair. Following a dec ...

in Paris. In 1874, he suffered an

intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is bleeding within the skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds ( intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleeds, epidural bleeds, and subdural bleeds. ...

and became partially paralyzed. As a result, he began repeating popular motifs and his work never returned to its original level of quality. He died during 1880 in Stockholm.

Personal life

In 1855, he married the artist . They were the parents of

Richard Bergh Sven Richard Bergh (28 December 1858 – 29 January 1919) was a Swedish painter, art critic and museum manager. Despite many years in France, he remained unattracted to Impressionism, preferring instead the Naturalism of painters such as Jule ...

(1858–1919) who also became a painter.

Gallery

File:Summer Landscape (Edvard Bergh) - Nationalmuseum - 20138.tif, ''Summer Landscape'' (1873) File:Utsigt af Ornäs målning av Edward Bergh.jpg, ''View of Ornäs'' (date unknown) File:Rocky Landscape with Waterfall and Watermill, Småland (Edvard Bergh) - Nationalmuseum - 17941.tif, ''Rocky Landscape with Waterfall and Watermill, Småland'' (1862) File:Johan Edvard Bergh - Solnedgång över fjärden (1855).jpg, ''Sunset Over the Bay'' (1855)

References

Other sources

*''

Svenskt konstnärslexikon The ''Svenskt konstnärslexikon'' is a dictionary of Swedish art and artists that was published in five volumes by Allhems Förlag AB from 1952 to 1967.Svensk uppslagsbok ''Svensk uppslagsbok'' is a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1929 and 1955, in two editions. First edition The first edition was started in 1929 by ''Baltiska förlaget AB'', but publishing was taken over by ''Svensk uppslagsbok AB'' in 1 ...

. Malmö 1939
Biography
@ the ''

Svenskt biografiskt lexikon ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' () is a Swedish biographical dictionary, started in 1917. The first volume, covering names ''Abelin'' to ''Anjou'', was published in 1918. As of 2017, names from A to S are covered. Volumes # ABELIN – ANJOU (1 ...

External links