Knud Geelmuyden Bull (10 September 1811 – 23 December 1889) was a Norwegian painter and

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

er. He studied as a painter, was convicted for printing false bank notes, and was deported from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to Australia during 1846. He lived in Australia the remainder of his life, becoming a significant artistic painter there.

Background

Bull was born in Norway in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, a son of pharmacist Johan Storm Bull and his wife Anna Dorothea Borse Geelmuyden. He was a brother of violinist

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

and architect

Georg Andreas Bull Georg Andreas Bull (26 March 1829 – 1 February 1917) was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo) for forty years. He was among the major architects in the country, and performed surveying studies and ...

. He was an uncle of Edvard Hagerup Bull, Schak Bull and Henrik Bull, a granduncle of Sverre Hagerup Bull and a second cousin of Johan Randulf Bull and

Anders Sandøe Ørsted Bull Anders Sandøe Ørsted Bull (13 September 1817 – 15 April 1907) was a Norwegian civil servant and government minister. He served as acting Minister of Defence (Norway), Minister of the Army in 1875 (twice), 1881 and 1884. He also served as List ...

. He studied painting with J. C. Dahl in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

from 1833 to 1834.

Deportation to Australia

While visiting Great Britain in 1845, Bull was caught for having prepared equipment for printing false bank notes. In a trial at the Central Criminal Court in London during December 1845 he was sentenced to fourteen years deportation to Australia. He left Great Britain in May 1846, in the prison ship ''John Calvin''. He was given an opportunity to paint during the journey, and among his products were the paintings ''The Wreck of the Waterloo at Cape Town in 1842'' (1846, The Mitchell Library, Sydney) and ''Aboard the John Calvin in the N.E. Trades near Madeira'' (1846, privately owned, Australia). He came to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

in September 1846, and was transferred to the

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

Saltwater River, Tasmania in 1847. He spent several years in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

from 1849 and was finally released from custody during 1853.

Painting career in Australia

There were few painters in Australia at the time, and Bull was the only professional landscape painter in Hobart. During the 1850s he was a teacher at the William Slade Smith Academy, and also painted local landscapes, and is noted for his scenes of early colonial Hobart. Bull is regarded as a pioneer of Australian landscape painting and is represented in several major galleries in Australia. Among his paintings are ''Henry Chapman (1854, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery), ''Hobart Town and Mount Nelson'' (1854, Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts) and ''Sunrise'' (1856, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery) . Bull also created historical paintings, such as ''The Wreck of the George III'' (1850) which is now displayed in the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

at Canberra.

Personal life

He married Mary Ann Bryen (1837–1879) in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, in 1852. He died in December 1889 in Sydney, Australia. He had five sons who all became painters, except one who died as a 2-year old.

Biography

* Ragnar Kvam: ''Straffen'' (1999)

References