Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Syberg, generally known as Fritz Syberg, (28 July 1862,

Fåborg Faaborg or Fåborg () is an old port town located on Faaborg Fjord in Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality on the island of Funen in Denmark. By road, Faaborg is located southwest of Odense, west-northwest of Svendborg, and roughly southeast of Mid ...

– 20 December 1939, Kerteminde) was a Danish painter and illustrator, one of the or

Funen Painters The Funen Painters or ''Fynboerne'' were a loose group of Danish artists who formed an art colony on the island of Funen at the very beginning of the 20th century. They were strongly influenced by Kristian Zahrtmann who taught at the Artists Stu ...

(''Fynboerne'') living and working on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

Biography

Syberg, from a poor background in Fåborg, first served a house painter's apprenticeship under Syrak Hansen, the father of fellow artist Peter Hansen before attending the Copenhagen Technical School in 1882 where Holger Grønvold taught him drawing. After a short period at the Danish Academy (spring 1884), he attended the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler (1885–1891) where he was the first of the Fynboerne to study under

Kristian Zahrtmann Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, (31 March 1843 – 22 June 1917) was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Phi ...

. His travels included Sweden (1899) where he visited

Johannes Larsen Johannes Larsen (27 December 1867 – 20 December 1961) was a Danish nature painter. Biography Larsen was born in Kerteminde on Funen, Denmark. He was the son of Jeppe Andreas L. and Vilhelmine Christine Bless. His father was a merchant. La ...

, Germany (1902), Italy (1905) together with

Jens Birkholm Jens Birkholm (21 November 1869 – 11 May 1915) was a Danish Genre art, genre painter associated with the group known as the Funen Painters. Biography Birkholm was born in and died in Faaborg. His father was a Master (naval), Sailing Master.

, the Netherlands and Paris (1908) and

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

(1910–1913). Syberg married Syrak Hansen's daughter

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

in 1894 and, after her death in 1914, he married her sister Marie in 1915. He was the father of artist

Ernst Syberg Ernst Axel Syberg (12 January 1906 – 17 August 1981) was a Danish painter who in the early 1930s associated with the artists' colony in northwestern Zealand known as the Odsherred Painters. From 1934, he was a member of Corner where he exhibited ...

and composer Franz Syberg.

Artistic career

Together with

, Poul S. Christiansen and Peter Hansen, Syberg was one of the first Funen artists to study under Zahrtmann who had broken away from the traditions of the Danish Academy to venture into Naturalism and

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: * Classical Realism *Literary realism, a mov ...

. Initially he was influenced by Zahrtmann's colourist approach which can be seen in ''Dødsfald'' (1892) depicting his mother's death in Fåborg's poorhouse 14 years earlier. After marrying Hansen's sister, the painter

Anna Syberg Anna Louise Birgitte Syberg (7 January 1870 – 4 July 1914) was a Danish painter. Together with her husband Fritz Syberg, she was one of the Funen Painters (''Fynboerne'') who lived and worked on the island of Funen. She is remembered for h ...

, his works became brighter as evidenced by his landscapes and the 18 large drawings he completed in 1895 to 1898 to illustrate

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

's ''

The Story of a Mother "The Story of a Mother" ( da, Historien om en moder) is a story by the Danish poet, travel writer, short story writer and novelist Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). The tale was first published December 1847. The story has been made into films ...

'', now considered to be among Denmark's finest drawings. Thereafter, his oils include ''Dødens komme'' (1906) and ''Døden ved vuggen'' (1907) and landscapes depicting scenes from Funen, first around Dyreborg and Svanninge such as ''Forår'' (1893) and ''Aftenleg i Svanninge Bakker'' (1900) and later the area west of Kerteminde where his garden and children were the main subjects. Quite early in his career, Syberg began to paint watercolours but it was during his three-year stay in Pisa with his family that he completed a whole series of watercolours adopting a style that was new to Danish art. But shortly after he returned to Denmark, on the occasion of his daughter Besse's marriage to Harald Giersing, Syberg came into contact with the younger generation of Danish artists, resulting in an increasingly

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

approach and a return to oils as in ''Overkærby Bakke. Vinter'' (1917). His son

also became an artist.

Selected works

Syberg Jeg vil synge dem alle, alle!, sagde Moderen 1898

*''Rugmark ved Svanninge'' (1887) *''Dødsfald'' (1892) *''Forår'' (1893) *''Historien om en moder'' (18 drawings, 1895–1898) *''Aftenlegg i Svanninge Bakker'' (1900) *''Børnene på Fyns Hoved'' (1905) *''Mor og datter ved Hverringe Strand'' (1906) *''Dødens komme'' (1906) *''Døden ved vuggen'' (1907) *''Sommerhytterne. Korshavn'' (1910) *''Efter badet, Italien'' (1911) *''Overkarby Bakke. Vinter'' (1917) *''Ved Morgenkaffen'' (1919) *''Komponisten'' (1936)

Gallery

File:Syberg Dødsfald 1892.jpg, Fritz Syberg: ''Dødsfald'' (1892) File:Syberg Aftenleg i Svanninge Bakker 1900.jpg, Fritz Syberg: ''Aftenleg i Svanninge Bakker'' (1900) File:Syberg Børnene på Fyns Hoved 1905.jpg, Fritz Syberg: ''Børnene på Fyns Hoved'' (1905) File:Syberg Overkærby Bakke. Vinter 1917.jpg, Fritz Syberg ''Overkærby Bakke. Vinter'' (1917)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syberg, Fritz 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters 19th-century Danish illustrators 1862 births 1939 deaths People from Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists

Biography

Artistic career

Selected works

Gallery

See also

References