1854 Denmark. Canvas, oil Height: 74 cm Length: 92 cm
Description Danish artist Karl Wilhelm Balsgaard (1812-1893) is known as a portrait painter, author of landscapes, interior compositions and still lifes. He received his artistic education at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen in the class of the outstanding Danish painter Christopher Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853). At the beginning of his career, Balsgaard was engaged in figurative painting and in 1841 he was awarded a small silver medal for composition with a model. But back in 1835, he exhibited a series of still lifes, and to earn money he painted porcelain with floral and fruit images. In 1843, for the Neuhausen competition, he created a portrait of the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, however, having failed, he devoted himself to working on still lifes. In 1855 he received a grant from the Academy of Arts to travel abroad. In two years he visited Berlin, Dresden, Düsseldorf and Paris. In 1858 he was elected a member of the Academy of Arts. In 1864 he received the position of inspector of the personal collection of King Christian IX, and taught art to Queen Louise. In 1867 - professor at the Academy of Arts. In 1872-1873 traveled around Italy. In 1892 he became a knight of the Order of Danebrog - the second most important award in Denmark.
On the stretcher there is a paper sticker with the owner's inscription in ink and pen, which indicates that this painting was given by Ida M. Suhr from Petersgard to her cousin Karl Bech in 1898. The aforementioned Ida Maria Suhr, née Bech, owned the historic estate of Petersgård, founded in southern Denmark in 1774. Karl Bech (1847-1920) owned the Engelsholm estate near Vejle, which belongs to his descendants to this day. Previously, during the time of Ida Suhr's uncle, Theodor Suhr (1792-1858), the painting was in the dining room of the Selist country house (today the Royal Shooting Range), which he owned in 1840-1858. The inscription also contains the name and dates of life of the author of the painting.
The works of Karl Balsgaard are kept in the collections of the State Art Museum of Copenhagen, the Thorvaldsen Museum, the City Museum in Copenhagen, as well as private collections in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Devon (England).