Otto Ludvig Sinding (20 December 1842 – 22 November 1909) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

painter, illustrator, poet and dramatist. Sinding drew on motives from Norwegian nature, folk life and history.

Personal life

Otto Sinding was born in

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

as a son of mine superintendent

Matthias Wilhelm Sinding Matthias Wilhelm Sinding (18 July 1811 – 11 February 1860) was a Norwegian mining engineer and factory founder. He was born in Fredrikstad as a son of Ulrik Rosing Sinding and Mette Marie Bang. He was a distant relative of Hans Rosing (1625–1 ...

(1811–1860) and Cecilie Marie Mejdell (1817–86). He was the older brother of the sculptor

Stephan Sinding Stephan Abel Sinding (4 August 1846 – 23 January 1922) was a Norwegian- Danish sculptor. He moved to Copenhagen in 1883 and had his breakthrough the same year. In 1890 he obtained Danish citizenship. In 1910 he settled in Paris where he live ...

and the composer Christian Sinding. He was a nephew of Nicolai Mejdell (1822–1899) and

Thorvald Mejdell Thorvald Mejdell (21 September 1824 – 28 October 1908) was a Norwegian forester. He was born in Ringsaker as a son of colonel Gløer Gløersen Mejdell (1782–1827) and Thorine Krog. He was a nephew of officer Jacob Gerhard Meydell and brother o ...

(1824–1908), and through the former a first cousin of Glør Thorvald Mejdell, who married Otto's sister Thora Cathrine Sinding. Otto Sinding was also a first cousin of Alfred Sinding-Larsen and the three siblings

Ernst Anton Henrik Sinding Ernst Anton Henrik Sinding (8 December 1839 – 11 January 1924) was a Norwegian school director. Personal life He was born in Larvik as a son of vicar Otto Ludvig Sinding (1809–1890) and Dorothea Magdalene Lammers. He was a brother of Elisabet ...

, Elisabeth Sinding and

Gustav Adolf Sinding Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

. In April 1874 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Otto Sinding married Anna Christine Nielsen (1855–1914), an adoptive daughter of

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

and Betsy Anker. Their son Sigmund Sinding became a notable painter.

Career

Otto Sinding went to art school in Christiania where he studied law and served as a civil servant. His first attempts at landscape painting earned him a scholarship, with which he went to

in Germany where he continued his studies. He studied art under

at the Baden School of Art in

. It was there that Sinding also came into contact with Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Riefstahl and

Karl Theodor von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fat ...

. In 1876 he returned to Norway and then painted the altarpiece of Christ on the cross for Paul's Church in Christiania (Oslo) and several pictures by Norwegian folk tales and dramatic coastlines . In 1880 he made a trip to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and then settled in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where he painted a series of animated landscapes and marines. During the winter of 1886, he undertook a study trip to the

Lofoten Islands Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvæ ...

. Some of his best known works would be his landscape paintings from

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolv� ...

. In 1891 he established residence in

Lysaker Lysaker is an area in Bærum Municipality, Viken (county), Viken County, Norway. Lysaker is the easternmost part of Bærum and borders Oslo city proper, proper. Lysaker was initially a farming community, later becoming a residential area. Today ...

. From 1903 on the artist lived in

where he was a professor at the Art Academy of Munich. He died in Munich in November 1909.

References

Other sources

From an article by Frank Jensen about the artists of northern Norway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinding, Otto 1842 births 1909 deaths 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters People from Kongsberg 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists