Peder Mork Monsted
1859 - 1941
Peder Mork Monsted was a leading Danish landscape painter of his time, known for his photo-realist style. He trained at the Copenhagen Academy from 1876-1879 and worked under the artists Peder Severin Kroyer and William Adolphe Bouguereau.
Monsted traveled throughout his career, including to France, Switzerland, Italy, and North Africa. Although most well known for his landscapes, he did paint portraits and figural scenes as well. Monsted was the favorite painter of King George of Greece; he was invited to Athens in 1893 where he painted the city and the Greek countryside for a year.
Monsted was able to successfully convey the mood and atmosphere of the locales that he visited; whether it was the towering peaks of the Swiss Alps or the tranquility of the woods in his home country. Monsted exhibited his works at the Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen, and his paintings are featured today all over the world, including the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York and the Chi Mei Museum in Tainan, Taiwan.
Monsted traveled throughout his career, including to France, Switzerland, Italy, and North Africa. Although most well known for his landscapes, he did paint portraits and figural scenes as well. Monsted was the favorite painter of King George of Greece; he was invited to Athens in 1893 where he painted the city and the Greek countryside for a year.
Monsted was able to successfully convey the mood and atmosphere of the locales that he visited; whether it was the towering peaks of the Swiss Alps or the tranquility of the woods in his home country. Monsted exhibited his works at the Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen, and his paintings are featured today all over the world, including the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York and the Chi Mei Museum in Tainan, Taiwan.
Born at the end of the 'golden age' of Danish painting, Monsted can be described as a product of that era. A landscape painter renowned for the clarity of light common to the painters of that age, his naturalistic 'plain air' views made him the leading Danish landscapist of his age.
Monsted was born in Balle near Ganaa in eastern Denmark before moving to Copenhagen. Here he studied at the Academy between 1875 and 1876, under Andries Fritz (1828-1906), a landscape and portrait painter, and was taught figure painting by Julius Exner (1825-1910). Here too he would have come across the work of artists such as Christen Kobke (1810-1848), an outstanding colourist and Pieter Christian Skorgaard (1817-1875), a romantic nationalist painter, a knowledge of whose work is seen in the Danish landscapes and beech forests of Monsted's.
Monsted travailed extensively throughout his long career, being a frequent visitor to Switzerland, Italy and North Africa. As early as 1884, he visited North Africa returning later in the decade.
The early years of the twentieth century saw Monsted returning to Switzerland, the south of France and Italy, the latter being the source of inspiration for many Scandinavian artists of the nineteenth century. The war years curtailed Monsted's travel to Norway and Sweden, however the 1920's and 1930's saw him return to the Mediterranean. Throughout his long career, Monsted continued to paint the Danish landscape and coastline. His is a romantic, poetic view of nature; he was an artist who depicted the grandeur and monumental aspect of the landscape, with a remarkable eye for detail and colour.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Monsted was born in Balle near Ganaa in eastern Denmark before moving to Copenhagen. Here he studied at the Academy between 1875 and 1876, under Andries Fritz (1828-1906), a landscape and portrait painter, and was taught figure painting by Julius Exner (1825-1910). Here too he would have come across the work of artists such as Christen Kobke (1810-1848), an outstanding colourist and Pieter Christian Skorgaard (1817-1875), a romantic nationalist painter, a knowledge of whose work is seen in the Danish landscapes and beech forests of Monsted's.
Monsted travailed extensively throughout his long career, being a frequent visitor to Switzerland, Italy and North Africa. As early as 1884, he visited North Africa returning later in the decade.
The early years of the twentieth century saw Monsted returning to Switzerland, the south of France and Italy, the latter being the source of inspiration for many Scandinavian artists of the nineteenth century. The war years curtailed Monsted's travel to Norway and Sweden, however the 1920's and 1930's saw him return to the Mediterranean. Throughout his long career, Monsted continued to paint the Danish landscape and coastline. His is a romantic, poetic view of nature; he was an artist who depicted the grandeur and monumental aspect of the landscape, with a remarkable eye for detail and colour.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
