Carl Vilhelm Balsgaard (24 December 1812,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

- 14 August 1893, Copenhagen) was a Danish painter; primarily of

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, book ...

Biography

His father was an accountant and auditor. He studied under

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Southern Jutland region of Denmark. He went on to lay the foundation for the period of art known as the Golden Age of Dan ...

at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dan ...

, with the intent of becoming a

figure painter A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such a work. The human figure has been on ...

, and won a small silver medal for live model drawing in 1841.Biographical notes
@ Kunstindex Danmark. However, in 1835, he had exhibited a series of still lifes and, when it became necessary to support himself by his work, he turned to painting fruits and flowers on porcelain. In 1843, the year he was married, he competed for the with a portrait of

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danish and Icelandic sculptor medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a working-class Dani ...

, but was unsuccessful.Brief biography
from the ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'' @ Project Runeberg. After that, he devoted most of his time to fruit and flower painting and, in 1855, received a grant from the Academy that would allow him to study abroad for two years. During that time, he visited

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and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. After returning home in 1858, he was elected a member of the Academy. In 1864, he was appointed Inspector for the private art collection of King

Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- ...

and gave art lessons to Queen

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

. The following year, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Academy's new professorship of decorative painting. In 1865, he applied for the post of Director of the Royal Art Collection (now the

National Gallery of Denmark The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

), but the position went to C.J. Thomsen. Two years later, as compensation, he was appointed a Professor at the Academy. His wife died the following year. To ease his grief, he travelled; notably to Italy from 1872 to 1873. He was appointed

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

in 1892 and died the following year.

References

External links

Brief Biography
@ Gravsted
ArtNet: More works by Balsgaard
mostly still lifes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsgaard, Carl 1812 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Danish still life painters Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Painters from Copenhagen 19th-century Danish male artists