Hermann August Cappelen (1 May 1827 – 8 March 1852) was a Norwegian painter. Cappelen was best known for his melancholic, dramatic and romantic landscape compositions.

Background

Sterbender Urwald Herman August Cappelen

Hermann August Cappelen was born in Skien, Norway. He was the son of Diderik von Cappelen (1795–1866) and Margaret Noble Severine Henriette Løvenskiold (1796–1866). Both the Løvenskiold and Cappelen families were prominent Norwegian families of merchants, land owners, civil servants and politicians. His family were the owners of prominent iron works and various other properties. His grandfather, Diderik von Cappelen (1761–1828), was member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

in 1814. He grew up at

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thr ...

, a manor in Ulefoss in the Grenland district of the county of

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. After school graduation in Skien in 1845, he went to Christiania to take another exam at the Royal Frederick University. He subsequently went to

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 ...

, where he studied with Hans Gude. Cappelen was a student at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under

Johann Wilhelm Schirmer Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (5 September 1807 in Jülich – 11 September 1863 in Karlsruhe) was a German landscape artist born in Jülich, within the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Duchy of Jülich. Biography Schirmer was started as a student ...

in landscape painting class from 1846 to 1850. He is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

Career

Cappelen went on several study tours in Norway: the

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending tow ...

and Lom (along with Gude and Johan Fredrik Eckersberg, 1846),

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Bales ...

and Hardanger (1847), as well as several summer residence in the countryside around Holden. His paintings were characterized by breadth and originality, combined with much poetical feeling. His wild designs from Telemark with forests, lakes and streams are filled with a pathetic mood of loneliness and transience. Powerful forms of nature, especially trees and mountains block, is effective in the composition, coloring and playing in the deep moss green tones. His most productive period was between 1850 and 1852, the two last years of his life. He struggled against

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lym ...

of which he died, aged 25, at

in 1852.

Legacy

The most important collection of Cappelen's art is in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. The

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

owns three of his major works: ''Waterfall in Lower Telemark'', ''Forest Lake'' and ''Dying Forest '', the last unfinished, together with 26 smaller images and studies. There is a mountain landscape by him in the

Oslo Kunstforening ] Oslo Kunstforening is a contemporary art gallery and art society located in Oslo, Norway. History Oslo Kunstforening is located at ''Rådhusgata 19''. The gallery, situated in one of the oldest houses in the Kvadraturen area, is the oldest ar ...

, the scene of which he took from

. In 1952, a monument to him by Norwegian sculptor

Dyre Vaa Dyre Vaa (19 January 1903 – 11 May 1980) was a Norwegian sculptor and painter. Background He was born in Kviteseid, Telemark, and later lived and worked in Rauland. He was the son of Tor Aanundsson Vaa (1864–1928) and Anne Marie Roholt ...

(1903–1980) was unveiled in a park in Holla.''Dyre Vaa'' (Store norske leksikon)
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Notable works

*''Kvernhus'', 1850 *''Utdøende urskog i uvær'', 1851 *'' Morkne trær'', 1851 *''Tjern i tåke'', 1851 *''Foss i nedre Telemark'', 1852 *''Skogtjern i Nedre Telemark'', 1852 *''Svarttjern'', 1852 *''Møllefossen'', 1852 *''Utdøende urskog'', 1852

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cappelen, August Norwegian landscape painters 1827 births 1852 deaths People from Skien People from Ulefoss Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni Düsseldorf school of painting Norwegian expatriates in Germany 19th-century Norwegian painters

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named '' Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month i ...

Norwegian male painters 19th-century Norwegian male artists