
Carl Frithjof Smith (5 April 1859 - 11 October 1917) was a Norwegian portrait and
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
painter who spent his career in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
Biography
Carl Frithjof Smith was born at
Christiania, Norway.
His father, Christian August Smith, was a
furrier
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item ...
. At the age of eighteen, he began working as a draftsman in the mechanical workshops of
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
. It was there that he took up painting in his spare time.
In 1880, he applied for a state travel grant, but was rejected. Nevertheless, he left Norway and enrolled at the
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.
In the second half of the 19th centur ...
, where he studied until 1884, when he had his debut at the
Autumn Exhibition at Christiania. His primary instructor there was the
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
painter
Ludwig von Löfftz
Ludwig von Löfftz (21 June 1845 – 3 December 1910) was a German genre and landscape painter.
Biography
He was born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of August von Kreling and Karl Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Wilhelm von Diez at the Academy ...
, who influenced him to focus on genre scenes as well. In 1890, he was called to be a professor at the
Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar
The Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar (German:Großherzoglich-Sächsische Kunstschule Weimar) was founded on 1 October 1860, in Weimar, Germany, by a decree of Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. It existed until 1910, when ...
, and remained there in that capacity until 1904.
After his resignation, he continued to live in Weimar, as he had become a full member of the
Deutscher Künstlerbund
The Deutscher Kuenstlerbund (Association of German Artists) was founded in 1903 on the initiative of Count Harry Kessler, a promoter of arts and artists; Alfred Lichtwark, director of the Hamburg Art Gallery; and the famous painters Lovis Corin ...
. He died at
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
in 1917.
Perhaps his best known student was
Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, drawing, draftsman, printmaker, sculpture, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the m ...
. He won gold medals at exhibitions in Berlin in 1886 and 1891 (at the Internationalen Kunst-Ausstellung). He was also awarded a medal at the
Glaspalast (Munich)
The ''Glaspalast'' (Glass Palace) was a glass and iron exhibition building located in the Alter Botanischer Garten (Munich), Old botanical garden in Munich modeled after the Crystal Palace in London. The Glaspalast opened for the first General G ...
and won the silver Staatsmedaille in Vienna at the Jubiläumsausstellung (1888). In addition, he held several showings at the
Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung in Berlin. His works were familiar throughout Germany and Sweden, but not in Norway, as he seldom exhibited there, despite making several extended trips home. On one of these trips, he did a portrait of the internationally known playwright,
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
.
Gallery
File:Smith-Beach.jpg, ''Young Woman Strolling on the Beach''
(1900)
File:Carl Frithjof Smith - Abendsonne.jpg, ''Girls in the Meadow''
(circa 1900)
File:Glaspalast München 1889 100.jpg, ''On the Meadow''
(1889)
References
Further reading
* Sabine Wendt: ''Frithjof Smith: die Kunstschule in Weimar & ein Schüler namens Max Beckmann; eine literarische Spurensuche.'' Vår-Verlag, Weimar 2010, .
*
* "Smith, Carl Frithjof". In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): ''Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon''. Vol.21: Schinopsis–Spektrum. J. H. Schultz Forlag, Kopenhagen 192
Online@
Projekt Runeberg
Project Runeberg () is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded by Lars Aronsson and ...
* "Smith, Carl Frithjof". In: Friedrich von Boetticher: ''Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte''. Vol. 2/2 Boetticher's Verlag, Dresden 190
Online* "Smith, Carl Frithjof", In: ''Norsk kunstnerleksikon'' I−IV, Oslo 1982–86,
Online.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frithjof Smith, Carl
1859 births
1917 deaths
Painters from Oslo
Norwegian emigrants to Germany
19th-century German painters
20th-century German painters
19th-century Norwegian painters
19th-century German male artists
20th-century Norwegian painters
Norwegian male painters
German genre painters
20th-century German male artists
19th-century Norwegian male artists
20th-century Norwegian male artists
Immigrants to the German Empire