Anna Theodora Ferdinanda Alexandra Krarup (1862–1941) was a Danish portrait painter who was a student of

Viggo Johansen Viggo Johansen (3 January 1851 – 18 December 1935) was a Danish painter and active member of the group of Skagen Painters who met every summer in the north of Jutland. He was one of Denmark's most prominent painters in the 1890s. Early life an ...

at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and of

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

in Paris. She is remembered for the many years she spent in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

before and after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

where in particular she painted portraits of

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...

. After returning to Denmark in 1938, she recounted her experiences to the journalist William Haste who published extracts of her memoirs in the Sunday editions of '' Berlingske Tidende''. The full version was published as a book shortly after her death in 1941. The Danish version ''42 aar i Czarriget og Sovjet'' was later translated into English as ''42 years in the realm of the Czar and the Soviets''.

Early life and education

Born on 21 September 1862 on the Scheelenborg Estate on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, Anna Theodora Ferdinanda Alexandra Krarup was the daughter of the estate manager Gottlieb Ferdinandy Krarup (1819–83) and his wife Anne née Jensen (1831–98). After initial training in art in 1885 under

Vilhelm Kyhn Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn (March 30, 1819 – May 11, 1903) was a Danish landscape painter who belonged to the generation of national romantic painters immediately after the Danish Golden Age and before the Modern Breakthrough. Even though he outliv ...

, she was a pupil of Luise Begas-Parmentier in Berlin (1888). She then attended the Royal Danish Academy where she studied painting under Viggo Johansen and sculpture under

August Saabye August Vilhelm Saabye (7 August 1823 – 12 November 1916), also known as August Wilhelm Saabye, was a Danish sculptor. Early life and education Saabye was born in Skivholme, , Aarhus, the son of vicar Erhard Saabye (1778–1851) and Susa ...

. In the early 1890s, she studied at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris under Benjamin-Constant. She made a short study trip to Finland in 1896, studying under

Albert Edelfelt Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish-Swedish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, befor ...

in Helsinki.

Career

After her stay in Helsinki, Krarup moved to St Petersburg where she soon received a commission from the Danish-born empress Dagmar. Her assignment was to paint a portrait of her late husband Alexander III. Thanks to her success, she was invited to paint other portraits of the imperial family. She remained in the city after the Russian Revolution. She established a friendship with Rasputin whose portrait she painted several times. In 1938, she was forced by the Soviet authorities to either accept Soviet citizenship or return to Denmark. She chose the latter, taking with her only a few sketches and a single painting. She spent her final years on Copenhagen's Østerbro. The events she experienced in St Petersborg (later Leningrad) are known from the accounts she gave to the journalist William Haste. Many were published in the Sunday editions of ''Berlingske Tidende'' in early 1941. The entire story was published in book form shortly after her death as ''42 aar i Czarriget og Sovjet'', later translated into English as ''42 years in the realm of the Czar and the Soviets''. Theodora Krarup died in Copenhagen on 23 April 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krarup Theodora 1862 births 1941 deaths 20th-century Danish painters Danish women painters Danish portrait painters People from Kerteminde Municipality 20th-century women painters