Christian Zacho 1843-1913 by Peter Most 1867

Peter Mørch Christian Zacho, usually known as Christian Zacho, (31 March 1843, in

Grenå Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutlandic peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, an ...

– 19 March 1913, in

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

landscape painter who is remembered for his idyllic scenes of Danish beech woods.

Early life

His education 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 ...

from 1862 to 1867 was followed by additional instruction under P. C. Skovgaard and

Vilhelm Kyhn Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn (March 30, 1819 – May 11, 1903) was a Danish landscape painter who belonged to the generation of national romantic painters immediately after the Danish Golden Age and before the Modern Breakthrough. Even though he outliv ...

who was particularly successful in communicating a grandiose style which allowed Zacho to benefit from new artistic trends. When he was 30, he went to Italy with Anton Thiele,

Otto Haslund Carl Otto Bentzon Haslund (4 November 1842 – 30 August 1917) was a Danish painter. He is remembered in particular for his paintings of animals and children. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Haslund attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts f ...

and Christian Blanche, visiting the

Vienna World Exposition ) , building = Rotunda , area = 233 Ha , invent = , visitors = 7,255,000 , organized = , cnt = , org = , biz = , country = Austria-Hungary , city ...

on his return in 1873. He was particularly impressed by the French landscape painters, especially those from the

Barbizon school The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its nam ...

, whose work he saw in Vienna. He spent a year with

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Mad ...

in Paris (1875–76) together with

Godfred Christensen Polycarpus Godfred Berry Wildenradt Christensen (23 July 1845, Copenhagen - 15 November 1928, Copenhagen) was a Danish landscape painter. Biography Christensen was born Copenhagen, the son of Mads Christensen and Anna Kirstine Wissing. Afte ...

and William Groth, creating interest for French art and culture in Denmark. Together with

P. S. Krøyer P. is an abbreviation or acronym that may refer to: * Page (paper), where the abbreviation comes from Latin ''pagina'' * Paris Herbarium, at the '' Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' * ''Pani'' (Polish), translating as Mrs. * The '' Pacific ...

, he spent a summer in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

Career

Zacho Vinterbillede fra Bretagne, Den første sne 1881

Zacho began to exhibit at Charlottenborg as early as 1865 with ''En Septemberdag'' (A September Day) painted in Jutland like most of his earlier works. Later landscapes were of Zealand, Møn and Bornholm. Some of his most successful works are those of woods in the springtime where streams run under tree tops bathed in sunlight. Two of his most appreciated works are his painting of ''Vinterbillede fra Bretagne, Den første Sne'' (The First Snow, 1881) and ''Et stille Vand i Dyrehaven'' (Quiet Waters in the Dyrhave, 1884)."Zacho, Peter Mørch Christian"
''Dansk biografisk lexikon''. Retrieved 22 December 2011. His works can only be described as talented. From a historical viewpoint, his paintings from France, executed with a well-developed technique and a strong sense of colour, are important as they give us a better understanding of the painters who followed in his footsteps. A good example is ''Vinterbillede fra Bretagne'' (Winter Scene from Brittany), 1881). Zacho continued to follow the style of the older generation of French landscape painters, especially

Théodore Rousseau Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (April 15, 1812December 22, 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school. Life Youth He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family. At first he received a basic level of training, but soon displaye ...

. There is no sign of Impressionism in his work as can be seen from his paintings of Brittany. Taken as a whole, he work can be said to fall in the Danish landscape tradition. His paintings of Bornholm and Zealand are delicately conceived but are a little conservative. In later life, he also painted portraits. He is however remembered above all for his more traditional, idyllic works which often depicted scenes of Danish beech woods. Zacho was awarded the

Thorvaldsen Medal The Thorvaldsen Medal ( Danish: Thorvaldsens Medalje, Thorvaldsen Medaillen) is awarded annually with few exceptions to a varying number of recipients by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and is its highest distinction within the visual arts. I ...

in 1884.Erik Mortensen, "Christian Zacho", ''Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''
Retrieved 22 December 2011.

Awards

Zacho was awarded the

in 1884 for his ''Et stille Vand i Dyrehaven''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacho, Christian 1843 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Danish painters Danish male painters 20th-century Danish painters Danish landscape painters Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal People from Norddjurs Municipality Burials at Hellerup Cemetery 19th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish male artists