Vilhelm Kyhn
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Vilhelm Kyhn | |
---|---|
![]() Vilhelm Kyhn portrayed by his pupilAnna Anchershortly before his death in 1903 | |
Born | |
Died | May 11, 1903 | (aged 84)
Nationality | Danish |
Education | Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Danish Golden Age |
Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn(March 30, 1819 – May 11, 1903) was aDanishlandscape painterwho belonged to the generation ofnational romanticpainters immediately after theDanish Golden Ageand before theModern Breakthrough.Even though he outlived many of his artistic peers by several decades, he remained a traditionalist and expressed strong criticism of many of the new trends in the painting of his day.
Kyhn also played a role as an educator, establishing several alternative art schools, including a painting school for women which was attended byAnna Ancher,among others.
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Kyhn was born inCopenhagento Carl Gottlieb Kyhn and his wife Sara Marie. His father was against his becoming an artist, and he was first put to train in a business office; then as a compromise he was allowed to train withcopperplate engraver,Georg Hoffmann. Here he learned to makevignettes,a skill which became useful to him later when he learned to make etchings.
He also got the opportunity to begin his training at theRoyal Danish Academy of Fine Artsin 1836. He entered the School of Plaster Model Painting in 1840, and into the School of Model Painting in 1841, where he was influenced by theclassicismof teacherChristoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg,father of theGolden Age of Danish Painting,andJ. L. Lund.[1]He was also influenced byNiels Lauritz Høyen,another teacher at the Academy as well as an important art critic and art historian, who encouraged a unique Danish school of art.N. F. S. Grundtvigwas also a source of inspiration in his turn towards national romanticism.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Vilhelm_Kyhn%2C_Jysk_skovegn_%281845%29.jpg/200px-Vilhelm_Kyhn%2C_Jysk_skovegn_%281845%29.jpg)
He won the small silver medallion in 1843 for a figure drawing, but he was set on becoming alandscape painter.At about this time Danish landscapes started to become a serious domain for Danish artists. Kyhn became part of the movement and was able to exhibit his first landscape,Et bornholmsk Strandparti(A View of the Beach onBornholm), an area he had visited over a period of several years. This painting was purchased by the Danish Royal Painting Collection, now theDanish National Gallery,and later loaned toAarhus Art Museum.
In 1845, Kyhn won a prize in the Neuhausen Competition (Neuhausenske Konkurs) forLandskab, hvori Foraaret karakteriseres(Spring Landscape).
Student travel abroad
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Capri_painting_-_Vilhelm_Kyhn.jpg/250px-Capri_painting_-_Vilhelm_Kyhn.jpg)
After a few years of diligent work painting landscapes inJutlandand the north ofZealand,he began to seek out a travel stipend; he was awarded one in 1848. However, he delayed his travels until the spring of 1850 on account of the turbulent times around the European revolutions of 1848 which led to Denmark’s becoming aconstitutional monarchyon June 5, 1849.
He traveled over theNetherlandsandBelgiumtoParisin the spring of 1850, and reachedItalyin September of the same year. The following year he received an extension to his stipend. He painted few landscapes of the countries he visited, and only during his travels abroad.
National romantic landscape painting
[edit]Back in Denmark in June 1851, he returned to painting direct studies from nature. The paintings whichNiels Lauritz Høyenbought from Kyhn show good development in his style. His landscape painting ability continued to improve over the years, as exemplified by the winter scene,Kystparti ved Taarbæk(View of the Coast near Taarbæk) andUdsigt over det flade Land ved Bjærgelide(View across the Flat Land near Bjærgelide) painted in 1858, which featured the typical Danish countryside nearHorsens.The flatprairiesof Jutland in this picture were not a popular subject at the time. He helped open the way for other artists to interpret this quintessential Danish landscape.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Udsigt_over_Vejle_Fjord_%28Vilhelm_Kyhn%2C_1854%29.jpg/250px-Udsigt_over_Vejle_Fjord_%28Vilhelm_Kyhn%2C_1854%29.jpg)
After 1863, he painted many scenes in the special light of Denmark’s late summer evenings. These include the atmosphericEfter solnedgang i udkanten af en landsby(After Sunset on the Outskirts of a Village) painted in 1863 andSildig Sommeraften ved Himmelbjærget(Late Summer Evening near Himmelbjerget) painted in 1874. Both of these paintings are in the collection of the National Museum of Art.
He painted many landscapes in the area nearSilkeborg,and spent his summers starting in 1873 atHimmelbjerg,one of Denmark’s highest points. It was likely in this area that Kyhn began to experiment with paintingin the open air,instead of painting in the studio as he had done previously and was customary.
Graphic work
[edit]He was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of The Danish Etchers Union (Den danske Radeerforening) in 1853. He married Pauline Petrine Leisner on September 11 of that same year.
Opposition to internationalism and conflicts at the Academy
[edit]He taught at both the School of Drawing and the School of Painting from the 1850s. He became a member of the Art Academy in 1870. He was a member of the Exhibition Committee atCharlottenborg1873-1888, and of the Exhibition Committee for the World Exhibition in Paris 1877-1878. He traveled toSwedenin 1866 and 1874, toNorwayin 1873 and 1874, toSkagenin 1877.
As a nationalist artist, the "blond artists" as they were called, he was excluded from membership in the Academy, and could not sell his paintings to the influentialKunstforeningenatGammel Strand.
In reaction and opposition to the growing internationalism affecting young Danish artists who were choosing to travel to France as part of their education, and to the effect of this French training on Danish art, Kyhn sent a work toParisin 1876. The work was a defense of Danish national art and the Eckersberg school of painting. He traveled to Paris in 1878 where his work was exhibited at the World Exhibition. He resigned from the Academy in 1882 in protest against works byPeder Severin KrøyerandTheodor Philipsen.[2]
His work was exhibited at the first international art exhibition inVienna,Austria in 1882. Kyhn was selected as member of the Academy’s plenary assembly in 1887.
Alternative painting schools
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Maleren_Vilhelm_Kyhn_rygende_pibe_%28Anna_Ancher%29.jpg/250px-Maleren_Vilhelm_Kyhn_rygende_pibe_%28Anna_Ancher%29.jpg)
During the period 1871-1879, Kyhn’s studio became a gathering place for a group of young, dissatisfied artists and Academy students called theHuleakademiet(The Den Academy), which eventually led to the formation in 1882 of The Artists' Independent Studio Schools (Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler).[1]
During this period, between 1865 and 1895, he also operated the Painting School for Women (Tegneskolen for Kvinder), at a time when women did not have access to the academy. More than 75 women trained under him, includingAnna Ancher,Ville Bang,Johanne Krebs,Emilie Mundt,Marie Luplau,Emmy Thornam,Elise Konstantin-Hansen,[3]Nicoline Tuxen,and Margrethe Backer Welhaven.
Private life
[edit]His son Svend Carl, born in 1862, was a promising landscape and interiors painter but died in 1890. His wife died in 1894. He received the bronze medallion at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. He died in Frederiksberg on May 11, 1903, at the age of 84.[1]
The fruits of a long life
[edit]Kyhn maintained a freshness of perspective. He portrayed a more naturalistic landscape than previously, one that was anchored in careful study and with an immediacy made possible through open-air painting. He chose to feature and glorify the landscapes of his native land, exploring especially the countryside near his home inJutland.He was influenced by the times, and could show that influence in his paintings, while the national romanticism of his middle years was still an anchor in his large production of landscapes. He influenced many younger artists.
He is featured in a portrait byPeder Severin Krøyer(1898).
Other Danish landscape painters of his generation wereJohan Thomas LundbyeandP.C. Skovgaard.
See also
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
[edit]- ^abc"Vilhelm Kyhn".Gyldendal.Retrieved2010-08-02.
- ^"Vilhelm Kyhn - guldalderens sidste forkæmper".kulturforedrag.dk.Retrieved2010-08-02.
- ^"Anna Ancher & Co".Sophienholm(in Danish).RetrievedMarch 13,2017.
External links
[edit]- 1819 births
- 1903 deaths
- 19th-century engravers
- 20th-century engravers
- Danish romantic painters
- 19th-century Danish engravers
- 19th-century Danish printmakers
- Danish landscape artists
- Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni
- Artists from Copenhagen
- 19th-century Danish painters
- Danish male painters
- 19th-century Danish male artists