Peder balke biography of michael
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The North Cape by Moonlight
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Title:The North Cape by Moonlight
Artist:Peder Balke (Norwegian, Helgøya, Nes 1804–1887 Oslo (Kristiania))
Date:1848
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:24 7/16 x 33 7/16 in. (62 x 85 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Christen Sveaas, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2019
Object Number:2019.167.4
This moonlit scene fryst vatten a view of Nordkaap, or the North Cape, from the sea. That is how Balke saw it, only once, in 1832. In the nineteenth century, the North Cape was thought to be the northernmost point in Europe. No motif fryst vatten more closely associated with Balke. It is a symbol of his self-identification as a Norwegian artist.
One point of departure for consideration of the painting is a daylight view, The North Cape, dated 1845 (oil on canvas, 37 3/8 x 52 in., The Savings finansinstitut Foundation DNB, Norway). It it fryst vatten one of Balke’s larg
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I suppose if you are a landscape or seascape artist it is ideal to be living amongst glorious scenery or rugged coastlines which inspire you to paint and is much better than having to move to an artist colony in some idyllic area to find inspiration. The artist I am featuring today was fortunate enough to come from a country of amazing natural beauty which he often depicted in his works of art. Today let me introduce you to the nineteenth century Norwegian painter, Peder Balke, who specialised in landscape and seascape paintings with a romantic and dramatic connotation.
Peder Balke was the younger son of Anders Thoresen and Pernille Pedersdatter and born August 28th 1804. He was christened Peder Andersen on November 4th. Information about his early years was given by Balke in a dictated version of his life story, seventy years later. He reminisced:
“… I was born on the island of Helgøya, in Nes in the country of Hedmark on 4 November 1804 in poverty, my situation • If I was to mention the name Edvard Munch to most people they would automatically think of his famous painting entitled The Scream and although I will look at that masterpiece in a future blog, today I want to concentrate on his very poignant painting entitled Det syke barn (The Sick Child) which he completed in 1886. The version you see above is one he completed twenty years after he painted the original and is now to be found in the Tate Gallery, London. However I look more closely at the painting, I would like to delve into the early life of Munch and by so doing, it may give one an insight into the man and his paintings. Edvard Munch was born on December 12th, 1863, on a farm, in the village of Ådalsbruk in Løten, Norway. His father, Christian Munch, the son of a clergyman, was a military doctor, who in 1861 had married Laura Catherine Bjølstad, a woman half his age. The couple had two sons, Peter Andreas and Edvard and three daughters, Johanne Sophie, Laura Catheri