Louis Auguste François Aumont (7 January 1805 - 6 May 1879) was a French-Danish portrait painter.

Early life and education

Aumont was born on 7 January 1805 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 ...

, the son of Jean Pierre Marie Aumont (c. 1775–1845) and Anna Elisabeth de Jenty (1783–1852). His father was assistant bookkeeper in the Bank of Denmark and a major in the Civil Guard (''Borgervæbningen''). Aumont was admitted to 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 ...

in 1820 where he studied portrait painting under Hans Hansen and C. W. Eckersberg. He won the small silver medal in 1824 and the large silver medal in 1826. He unsuccessfully tried to obtain a stipend from the academy to continue his education in Paris but his plans were instead realized with economic support from Prince Christian Frederik and A. W. Moltke. In Paris, he worked in

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was given title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French R ...

' studio. The works that he sent home were well received, for instance by

Niels Laurits Høyen Niels Laurits Andreas Høyen (4 June 1798 – 29 April 1870) is considered to be the first Danish art historian and critic. He promoted a Danish nationalistic art through his writings and lectures, and exerted a far reaching effect on contempo ...

, så that he could finally obtain the approval from the academy needed to get a government stipend.

Career

After his return to Copenhagen in 1829, he immediately made a name for himself as a celebrated portrait painter and received a number of commissions from the royal court. In 1832, he unsuccessfully tried to become an associated member (''agreeret'') of the art academy with a painting of colonel-lieutenant Hagedorn's children. Next year, when he made another attempt, this time with a portrait of Johanne Louise Heibergs, he was again rejected. He responded by selling his paintings and moving to Hamburg in 1834 (citizenship in 1839). The Great Fire of Hamburg in 1842 made him return to Copenhagen. It was a struggle for him to make ends meet and in 1847 he travelled to the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

. In 1853, he was employed as intendent and ship's cook in the naval brig ''Mercurius''. He remained in the service of the navy in other ships until 1865. In 1858–59, he was back in Paris. In 1824–44, Aumont exhibited a total of 82 paintings at Charlottenborg. In 1827, he exhibited a portrait painting at the salon in Paris. Konferensrådinde Frølich (1837) på Kunstmuseet, Marquis de Massilian i Montpellier, Aug. Bournonville på Det kgl. teater, professor Claus Schall og hustru på Teatermuseet. Endelig findes portrætter af A. i privateje, således H. E. Freund (Klintholm) og kunstnerens hustru (tidl. Johan Hansens samling). A.s små portrætter kan stå ganske højt ved deres gode tegning, finhed i farveholdningen, et liv i karakteristikken og en friskhed i opfattelsen som er ret usædvanlig herhjemme på den tid, men hans store og officielle portrætmalerier bliver stive, tørre og gennemdetaljerede. He participated in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

and was wounded in the

Battle of Sankelmark The Battle of Sankelmark (or Battle of Oeversee) was a minor battle during the Second Schleswig War. It took place on 6 February 1864 between Sankelmark and Oeversee, on the road between Schleswig and Flensburg, during the Danish retreat from Da ...

. He died in Copenhagen on 6 May 1879.

Personal life

On 6 October 1832, Aumont married Vilhelmine Bernhardine Paasch (1812-1894). She was the daughter of second lieutenant Joachim Barner Paasch (ca. 1790–1827) and Helene Marie Paust (c. 1793–1851). Louis Aumont was the father of flower painter Horace Aumont and the paternal uncle of theatre historian Arthur Aynont.

Selected works

* ''Arveprinsesse Caroline'' (1830, Rosenborg) * ''Princess Wilhelmine'' (1831, Rosenborg) * ''Queen Caroline Amalie'' (1830, Rosenborg) * ''Christian VIII'' (1831, Rosenborg) * ''Christian VIII'' (1834, Frederiksborg Museum) * ''Konferensrådinde Frølich'' (1837, Danish National Gallery) * ''Marquis de Massilian'' (Montpellier) * ''August Bournonville'' (Royal Danish Theatre) * ''Professor Claus Schall og hustru'' (Teatermuseet) * ''H. E. Freund'' ( Klintholm) * ''The Artist's Wife'' (formerly Johan Hansens's ar collection)

Gallery

File:Johannes Eilert Steenfeldt by Louis Aumont.jpg, Johannes Eilert Steenfeldt File:Antoine Bournonville by Louis Auguste Francois Aumont.jpg, ''

Antoine Bournonville Antoine Bournonville (19 May 1760 – 11 January 1843) was a French ballet dancer a choreographer, active in the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet and eventually ballet master in the latter. He is considered to have played a gre ...

'' File:August Bournonville (1828 painting).jpg, ''

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nep ...

'' (1828) File:Niels Petersen by Aumont.jpg, ''Niels Petersen'' File:Carolineamaliedenmark.jpg, ''Caroline Amalie'' File:Claus Schall by Louis Aumont.jpg, ''Claus Schall'' File:Christian Waagepetersen (1829).png, '' Christian Waagepetersen'' (1829)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Louis Aumont
Louis Aumont
at

Kunstindeks Danmark ''Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon'' (Weilbach's Biographical Dictionary of Artists) is a Danish biographical dictionary of artists and architects. The current edition, which is also freely accessible online, contains the biographies of some 8,000 Danis ...

19th-century Danish painters Danish portrait painters Painters from Copenhagen Danish people of French descent 1806 births 1879 deaths