Peter Alfred Schou (known as P.A. Schou; 8 October 1844 – 21 November 1914) was a Danish painter.

Biography

He was born at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

to a family of merchants from

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Kalundborg and 14 km ...

shortly after their arrival in Copenhagen. He was the brother of

Ludvig Abelin Schou Ludvig Abelin Schou, known as L.A. Schou (11 January 1838, in Slagelse – 30 September 1867, in Florence), was a Danish Romantic painter, the older brother of Peter Alfred Schou. Biography He was born to a family of merchants. When he was six, ...

. Originally, he chose to follow his father into business and attended a trade school. From 1865, he looked after his family's interests in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

but, possibly inspired by his older brother's death in 1867, he began to spend his summers attending classes at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the product o ...

. P.A. Schou
'' Kunstindeks Danmark'' In 1876 he went to Paris, where he studied with

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in M ...

.P.A. Schou
''Den Store Danske''. His first exhibition at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

came in 1880. The following year, a work of his was rejected by the censorship committee for the

Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition The Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (''Charlottenborg Forårsudstilling'') is an annual art exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event is held at the Charlottenborg Exhibition Building (''Kunsthal Charlottenborg''). Kunsthal Charlottenborg ...

and he went back to Hamburg. As a result of his experience at Charlottenborg, he established the "Aktclub", a venue where artists could paint nude models without academic constraints.Carsten Meyer-Tönnesmann: ''Der Hamburgische Künstlerclub von 1897''. Verlag Christians, 1985, Among those who worked there were Arthur Siebelist, Julius von Ehren and . He returned to Denmark in 1902 and was a regular participant in several annual exhibitions after that time. His paintings were mostly very simple; interiors with one or two figures in a dark,

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

style. Many capture sad moments. The bedside of a tubercular young man is a recurring theme. He also painted some portraits and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

s. In 1911, he was awarded the Anckers Scholarship (''Det anckerske Legat'') grant for composers, writers and artists. In 1908 and 1912, he received the

Eckersberg Medal The Eckersberg Medal (originally the ''Akademiets Aarsmedaille'' or Annual Academy Medal) is an annual award of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of Danish painting. The Ec ...

. He died at

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

and was buried in

Solbjerg Park Cemetery Solbjerg Park Cemetery ( da, Solbjerg Parkkirkegård) Is a 19-hectare cemetery in Frederiksberg in the western outskirts of inner Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1865, it is one of three cemeteries in Frederiksberg Municipality Frederiksberg Ko ...

Selected paintings

PASchou-Behind.jpg, ''Left Behind''
(1899) Gravity. Interior (Peter Alfred Schou) - Nationalmuseum - 18971.tif, ''Gravity. Interior''
(1890) File:PASchou-Sister.jpg, '' Artist's Sister, Ida''
(before 1914) File:Kunstmaler vor seiner Staffelei by PA Schou.jpg, ''Painter at His Easel''
(1900)

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Schou.Arcadja Auctions: More works by Schou.
from ''

Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon ''Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon'' is a Danish encyclopedia that has been published in several editions. The first edition, ''Salmonsens Store Illustrerede Konversationsleksikon'' was published in nineteen volumes 1893–1911 by Brødrene Sal ...

'' @

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schou, Peter Alfred 1844 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters Artists from Copenhagen Danish genre painters People from Slagelse 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists