Carl Vilhelm Balsgaard (24 December 1812,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

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

still-life A still life (: 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 human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

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 Duchy of Schleswig (now in Aabenraa Municipality, in the southern part of Jutland in Denmark). He went on to lay the foun ...

at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts () 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 Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture in Cope ...

, with the intent of becoming a figure painter, 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 Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...

, 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

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. 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 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently List of dukes of Schleswig, Duke of Schleswig, List of dukes of Holstein, Holstein and Saxe-Laue ...

and gave art lessons to Queen Louise. 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

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), 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 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