Vilhelm Peter Carl Petersen (17 December 1812 – 25 July 1880) was a Danish landscape painter. He was one of the first Danish landscape painters to work on
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
and in the moorlands of
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
. Small fishing villages were especially attractive to him.
Biography
Vilhelm Petersen was born in
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 ...
.
He was the son of a wagon manufacturer.
In 1830, he became a student at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark.
History
The Royal Dani ...
where he studied landscape painting.Biographical notes @ Kunstindeks Danmark. His work was first featured at 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 ...
in 1833. His first painting, ''A Party in
Nødebo
Nødebo is a village located on the southwestern shores of Lake Esrum in Hillerød Municipality, North Zealand, some 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Nødebo Church, the oldest in the area, is notable for its church frescos and its early ...
'', was purchased by the
Kunstforeningen
Kunstforeningen (English The Art Society), now officially called Gammel Strand after its address, is an exhibition space and non-profit membership organization located at Gammel Strand in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1825 to promote and ...
.
He received a travel stipend from the Academy in 1848 but, because of the political unrest in Europe, had to postpone leaving until 1850. Travelling to Italy by way of the Netherlands, Germany and the
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
, he spent two years in Rome.
He exhibited regularly until 1860, then stopped for a few years; holding some major showings from 1873 to 1874. Part of this break was due to family obligations that arose from his father's illness and death and the necessity of taking work as a drawing teacher. In 1864, he married Sophie Margrethe Sørensen-Groth (1838-1916), the daughter of a retired sea captain. In 1877, he was a recipient of the "Sødrings Legat", an endowment for artists established by the painter
Frederik Sødring
Frederik Hansen Sødring (31 May 1809 – 18 April 1862) was a Danish landscape painter and founder of an endowment.
Background
Sødring was born in Aalborg, Denmark. He was the son of merchant Peder Hansen Sødring (d. 1839) and Ane Do ...
.
He died in Copenhagen and was buried at
Assistens Cemetery
Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...
.
His art is on display at the
National Gallery of Denmark
The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen.
The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...
Bornholm Art Museum
The Bornholm Art Museum (''Bornholms Kunstmuseum'') is situated on the Danish island of Bornholm, above the Sanctuary Rocks (''Helligdomsklipperne'') about 6 kilometres north-west of Gudhjem, Denmark.
History
The museum's permanent collection co ...
,
Sorø Art Museum
Sorø Art Museum is an art museum located in Sorø, Denmark. It displays a representative collection of Danish art as well as a collection of Russian art, covering both painting from 1870 to 1930 and Russian icons, and also hosts special exhibi ...
,
Helsingør City Museum
Helsingør City Museum (Danish: Helsingør Bymuseum) is a local history museum in Helsingørm Denmark. The 16th-century building in which it is based is known as the Cammelite House (Danish: Kammelitterhuset) although the Carmelite brothers from ...
Randers Museum of Art
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).
Gallery
Image:Holmens Kirke c. 1855 (Wilhelm Petersen).jpg, ''Church of Holmen'' (c. 1855)
File:Vilhelm Petersen - View of the parish of Østerlarsker - Google Art Project.jpg, ''View of Østerlarsker parish'' (1838)
Image:Wilhelm Petersen - Højbro, 1839.jpg, ''Højbro with a view of Slotsholmen'' (1839)
References
External links
* Works by Petersen in major collections:
** ''Study of a Stone Heap'', 1843, oil on canvas;
Statens Museum for Kunst
The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen.
The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...
, Copenhagen, Denmark ** ''The Rhine at Remagen'', 1850, oil on paper, laid down on canvas; in the collection of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York ** ''Rhine Landscape'', ca. 1850, oil on paper, laid down on canvas; in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ** ''View towards Hesbjerg from the Hornbaek Estate'', 1857, oil on paper on board;
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...