| Johan Christian Dahl | |
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Portrait of Johan Christian Dahl Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein (1823) |
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| Birth name | Johan Christian Claussen Dahl |
| Born | February 24, 1788 Christiania, Norway |
| Died | October 14, 1857 Dresden, Germany |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Field | Norwegian Landscape painting |
| Movement | Norwegian romantic nationalism |
| Influenced by | Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg |
| Awards | Order of St. Olav Order of Vasa Order of Dannebrog |
Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (February 24, 1788 – October 14, 1857), often known as J. C. Dahl, was a Norwegian landscape painter, who was connected to the Norwegian romantic nationalism. He is often considered to have been "the father of Norwegian landscape painting".[1]
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Born the son of a fisherman in Bergen, Norway, Dahl's first training was as a decorative artist in his native city. A group of well-to-do citizens collected money which enabled him to travel to Copenhagen in 1811 to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Christian August Lorentzen was his teacher, while Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and the poetic landscapes of Jens Juel were other influences on young Dahl.[2]
In the autumn of 1818, Dahl left Copenhagen. His intention was to go on a study tour to the most important cultural centers in Europe. One of his stops was Dresden, where he moved in artistic circles. In the summer of 1820 he traveled to Rome and Naples, returning in 1821 to settle permanently in Dresden. He married and settled in Dresden but made several trips back to Norway to gather inspiration for his paintings.[3]
His paintings often feature dramatic backdrops of the Norwegian and Swiss alps, which he recreated during time spent abroad in Italy. Dahl describes his separation as 'essential' to the process. [4]
During his 7 years in Copenhagen, Johan Christian Dahl began his artistic career as a professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1824. Among his students were Norwegian artists Peder Balke and Knud Bull. He was active mostly in this city but gathered his subject material from the landscape of his home country. Together with Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Gustav Carus, he would become one of the Dresden painters of the period who exerted a decisive influence on German Romantic painting.
J.C. Dahl occupies a central position in Norwegian artistic life of the first half of the 19th century. His Romantic yet naturalistic interpretations of Norwegian scenery aroused interest in Norway on the European Continent, where Dahl himself was highly esteemed, particularly in Denmark and Germany. Dahl made frequent visits to Norway. In 1826 he went on a long study tour in Norway, his first visit there since leaving the country in 1811. Dahl visited Norway again in 1834, 1839, 1844 and 1850, and was thus able to expand the range of his Norwegian subject-matter. Dahl was active in promoting the preservation of historic monuments in Norway and was a founder of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments.[5]
In 1836, Dahl was also among the founding fathers of the National Gallery of Norway (Norwegian: Nasjongallerietand) now the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and donated his own art collection to the institution. Jointly with Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Frederik Stang and Henrik Heftye, he founded also the Art Society in Oslo (Norwegian: Oslo Kunstforening.[6][7]
Dahl was married twice. In 1820, he married Dorothea Franzisca Friederike Emilie von Block (1801-1827). Emilie Dahl died in childbirth in 1827. Following the death of his first wife, Dahl became married in 1830 to his art student Amalie von Bassewitz (1794-1830). Amalie died in childbirth later that year. Dahl died in Dresden, Germany. In 1902, a statue of Dahl by Norwegian sculptor Ambrosia Tønnesen (1859-1948), was erected on the facade of the Vestlandske kunstindustrimuseum in Bergen. In 1934, his remains brought back to Norway and buried in the cemetery of St. Jacob's Church (Sankt Jakob kirke) in Bergen. [8]
Dahl had the both the Orders of Vasa and St. Olav bestowed on him by the King of Norway and Sweden.
Many of his works may be seen in Dresden, notably a large picture titled Norway and Storm at Sea. The Bergen Kunstmuseum in Bergen, Norway contains several of his more prominent works including: Måbødalen (1851), Fra Stedje i Sogn (1836), Hjelle i Valdres (1850), Lysekloster (1827), Stedje i Sogn (1836) and Bjerk i storm (1849).
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design - The National Gallery, Oslo has a large collection of his works including: Vinter ved Sognefjorden (1827), Castellammare (1828), Skibbrudd ved den norske kyst (1832), Hellefoss (1838), Fra Stalheim (1842), Fra Fortundalen (1842) and Stugunøset på Filefjell (1851) .[9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.