''Mermaid'' (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: ), painted in 1873, is the last of at least four oil on canvas paintings of

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

s painted by the Polish-Danish painter

Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann Anna Maria Elisabeth Lisinska Jerichau-Baumann (21 November 1819 – 11 July 1881) was a Polish-Danish painter. She was married to the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau. Early life and career Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann was born in Żoliborz (Fr ...

. It depicts a mermaid with a melancholic facial expression, leaning against a rock in shallow water, with a night sky residing over a moonlit sea in the background. Purchased by

Carl Jacobsen Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the tra ...

in 1877, it is now in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. One of Baumann-Jerichau's earlier mermaid paintings was presented to

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

as a birthday present and is now in the Funen Art Museum. The two other mermaid paintings are in private collections.

Artist's background

Elisabeth Baumann was educated at the art academy in

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 th ...

in 1838–1845. She then went on a study trip 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 ...

, where she met the Danish sculptor

Jens Adolf Jerichau Emil Jens Baumann Adolf Jerichau (17 April 1816 – 25 July 1883) was a Danish sculptor. He belonged to the generation immediately after Bertel Thorvaldsen, for whom he worked briefly in Rome, but gradually moved away from the static Neoclassici ...

. They immediately fell in love, were married in 1846, and lived in Rome until the birth of their first two children in 1847 and 1848. The revolution in 1848 prompted first Elisabeth and then her husband to move to Denmark. The inspiration for the mermaid paintings came partly from the mermaid in the coat of arms of her home town

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and partly from

's 1837 short story '' The Little Mermaid''. The Jerichaus first met Andersen in Rome and maintained a close friendship with him which lasted the rest of their lives. Andersen was the godfather of their daughter Caroline Elisabeth Nancy, later mostly known as Agnete (or TiTi), probably inspired by the folk tale '' Agnethe and the Merman'', who was born in 1853. In 1856, Jerichau-Baumann painted a watercolour of ''Agnethe and the Merman'' as an illustration of the Danish folk song. Jens Adolf Jerichau created a small clay model of a mermaid in a pose rather similar to that of the mermaids in his wife's paintings, but since it is undated, it is impossible to determine who was inspired by whom.

History

Baumann's earlier mermaid paintings

Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann - 1861 mermaid

An oil on canvas painting by Jerichau Baumann exhibited at the Salon in Paris in the spring of 1861 is believed to be her first painting of a mermaid. A French art critic described it as "a fateful creature, which, due to its attractiveness, would cause the 'Scandinavian Odysseus' to run aground". When the just 19-year-old Wanda Zahrtmann visited Jerichau-Baumann's studio in December the same year, she was immediately struck by the mermaid's gaze. After the death of both her parents, former vice admiral and naval minister Christian Christopher Zahrtmann and Sophie Elisabeth Donner, in 1853 and 1858, respectively, she was given an annual allowance by her trustees which was at her disposal. On 24 December (in Denmark called Christmas Eve Day), she decided to buy the painting for 1,200 '' rigsdaler''. In a letter to Jerichau-Baumann sent earlier the same day, she had described how she kept dreaming of the mermaid, both while asleep and awake, but how buying the painting would mean that she spent her entire annual allowance all at once. In a letter to Henriette Scavenius, Hans Christian Andersen commented on the sale and that he found the price rather high. The painting was a few months later presented to the public at the annual Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition. Zahrtmann was married to Christian Conrad, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe the following year. Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann - Havfrue 1863

Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann - Havfrue 1863

Another mermaid painting was completed in June 1862. Baumann brought it with her to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for exhibition at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

. Baumann hoped that the Shah of Persia, whom she met at an event in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, would be interested in the painting, but in her memoirs she comments that "he passed me without even seeing me, I guess I wasn't young enough to attract his attention". The painting was for sale for £200 (1800 rigsdaler) but failed to find a buyer. In a registry from 1883, Jerichau-Baumann's 1863 mermaid painting is recorded as belonging to Countess V. Danneskjold-Samsøe. On 2 April 1868, Baumann gave one of her mermaid paintings to Hans Christian Andersen as a birthday present. Andersen thanked her with a small poem in an undated letter: ''You master the splendour of colours!''
''A soul you have placed in the mermaid’s eyes:''
''A wink from you, from the spirit’s power!''
''My gratitude here expressed in mere words''
One of Jerichau-Baumann's mermaid paintings (97×130 cm) belonged to baroness Sophie Lerche.

Baumann's 1873 mermaid painting

Jerichau-Baumann painted her last mermaid painting in 1873. It was exhibited in

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the same year. In September 1877,

purchased the painting directly from Baumann for DKK 3,000. When Jacobsen commissioned the statue of the Little Mermaid from

Edvard Eriksen Edvard Eriksen (10 March 1876 – 12 January 1959) was a Danish–Icelandic sculptor. Biography He apprenticed as a wood carver, after which he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts between 1894 and 1899. Eriksen's most famous work i ...

, he stated that "Hans Christian Andersen had created the Little Mermaid in literature,

Fini Henriques Valdemar Fini Henriques (baptized ''Finni'') (20 October 1867 at Frederiksberg - 27 October 1940 in Copenhagen) was a Danish composer and violinist. His parents were hospital inspector and justice counsel Vilhelm Moritz Henriques (1828-1889), ...

has created her in music, Mrs. Jerichau has created her in painting ��.now I want you to create her in sculpture".

Description

Baumann's 1873 mermaid painting depicts a mermaid with a somewhat melancholic facial expression and seaweed in her hair, leaning against a rock in shallow water, with a night sky residing over a moonlit sea in the background. The art historian Sine Krogh has observed that "Andersen’s very young and innocent mermaid sacrificed her life for the earthly prince, whose love she could not win, Jerichau Baumann’s mermaids seem less selfless or sacrificial. Instead, they appear more self-conscious and alluring as they lie rocking near the surface of the sea, treacherously covering the reef that could cause ships to run aground".

Reception

Baumann's mermaid painting was poorly received by contemporary art critics. Lucie Ingemann, the widow of B.S. Ingemann and herself a painter, expressed her strong fascination with the gaze of Jerichau-Baumann's mermaids.

Ownership and recent exhibitions

Baumann's 1873 mermaid painting is in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It was presented as a gift by Johanna Jerichau in 1972. In 2018, it was loaned out for the exhibition "" ''–'' "" at the Musée d'art moderne André-Malraux in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

. Hans Christian Andersen's mermaid painting (905 × 135 cm) is now in the collection of the Funen Art Museum. Wanda Zahrtmann's mermaid painting (98 x 129 cm) remained in the family until 1986. In December 2020, it was sold by Bruun Rasmussen auctioneers (Lot No.75). The painting was featured on the cover of the auction catalogue. Sophie Lerche's mermaid painting (97 × 130 cm) is now in a private collection abroad.

In popular culture

A detail of the painting is seen on the cover of Birgit Pouplier's 2007 biographical novel about Jerichau-Baumann.

References

External links

Letter
from Hans Christian Andersen

{{The Little Mermaid Paintings by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann Paintings in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Mermaids in art Works based on The Little Mermaid 1873 paintings 1863 paintings 1862 paintings 1861 paintings