Eleonora Christine Tscherning (1817–1890) was a Danish painter who created flower paintings and later landscapes, often working in the open air. She is also remembered as one of the most important memoirists of her day, writing letters and diaries documenting important events, including the career of her husband,

Anton Frederik Tscherning Ant(h)on Frederik Tscherning (12 December 1795 – 29 June 1874) was a Danish army officer who became a politician. During the First Schleswig War he served, briefly, as Denmarks's first Minister for War between March and November in 1848. Tsche ...

(1795–1874) who served as a member of Parliament and the Council of State as well as Defence Minister.

Biography

Born on 4 July 1817 in Helsingør, Eleonora Tscherning was the daughter of military officer Adam Tobias Lützow (1775–1844) and Bodil Rasmussen (1790–1865), his unmarried housekeeper. It was only in 1837 that she discovered the identity of her father when, on being promoted head of the artillery corps, he decided to adopt her. The family moved to Copenhagen where she studied painting at the school run by her cousin, the author and flower painter

Christine Løvmand Christine Marie Løvmand (19 March 1803 – 10 April 1872) was a Denmark, Danish artist who specialized in paintings of flowers and still lifes. She was one of the few women at the time who gained recognition as a painter. Biography As a child, ...

. Tscherning moved from flower painting to landscapes, happy to work in the open air. She gained experience by copying works by

Fritz Petzholdt Ernst Christian Petzholdt, known as Fritz (1 January 1805 – 29 August 1838) was a Denmark, Danish landscape painting, landscape painter of the ''Copenhagen School'', also known as the Danish Golden Age, Golden Age of Danish Painting. He spent m ...

and Jens Juel. She also developed friendships with

P.C. Skovgaard Peter Christian Thamsen Skovgaard (known as P. C. Skovgaard; 4 April 1817 – 13 April 1875) was a Danish national romantic landscape painter. He is one of the main figures associated with the Golden Age of Danish Painting. He is especially known ...

Johan Lundbye Johan Thomas Lundbye (1 September 1818 – 25 April 1848) was a Danish painter and graphic artist, known for his animal and landscape paintings. He was inspired by Niels Laurits Høyen's call to develop nationalistic art through depictions of De ...

and Thorald Læssøe. She exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition from 1842 to 1849, initially anonymously, later using her own name. As a result, she was one of the first female painters in Denmark who signed their works with their names rather than with pseudonyms. In 1845, she married A.F. Tscherning, who encouraged her to continue painting but marriage to a politician and raising a family of five children left her little time for creative work. As an artist, she found that married life was too demanding for her to paint but she was nevertheless able to travel abroad with her daughter, in 1869 to Switzerland and in 1873 to Italy. From 1864, she decorated vases at the P. Ipsens Enke terracotta factory but retired some 20 years later after suffering a heart attack. After her husband died in 1874, she supplemented her income by running a flower painting course for young women together with her youngest daughter,

Sara Ulrik Sara Brigitte Ulrik née Tscherning (9 July 1855 -22 May 1916) was a Danish flower painter. Biography Born in Ørholm north of Copenhagen, she was the daughter of the army officer and politician Anton Frederik Tscherning (1795–1874). Her sis ...

(1855–1916). Her elder daughter

Anthonore Christensen Anthonie Eleonore Christensen, generally known as Anthonore Christensen, née Tscherning (1849–1926) was a Danish flower painter. She exhibited from 1867 at Charlottenborg, winning the medal of the year in 1893. As a painting teacher, her stude ...

(1849–1926) was also an artist. Tscherning also wrote a number of articles some of which appeared in ''Fortællinger'' in 1870. Between 1871 and 1875, she wrote and published a series of poems and short stories. Her memoirs and letters were published for the first time in 1908. Eleonora Tscherning died on 3 July 1890. She was buried at

Garnisons Cemetery Garrison Cemetery (Danish: Garnisons Kirkegård) is a cemetery in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was inaugurated in 1671 on a site just outside the Eastern City Gate, as a military cemetery complementing the naval Holmens Cemetery which had been inaugura ...

in Copenhagen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tscherning, Eleonore 1817 births 1890 deaths 19th-century Danish memoirists 19th-century Danish women artists 19th-century Danish women writers 19th-century Danish painters Danish women painters People from Helsingør Danish women memoirists