Kristian Zahrtmann

Kristian Zahrtmann

Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann ( Danish pronunciation: ['sɑːrdman]) (born March 31, 1843 in Rønne , Bornholm , † June 22, 1917 in Frederiksberg ) was a Danish painter .

Life

Kristian Zahrtmann: Scene from Christian VII's court (1873). Queen Caroline Mathilde and her lover, the German doctor Struensee , play chess while the ( schizophrenic ) King Christian VII teases the parrot with his sword.

Zahrtmann was born on the island of Bornholm as the son of the district doctor Carl Vilhelm Zahrtmann (1810–1899) and Laura Pouline, nee. Jespersen (1822–1918) born. One of his eight siblings was the engineer Hans Zahrtmann . He graduated from Sorø Akademi in 1862 . He then attended the Copenhagen Art Academy (1864–1868). His most important teachers there were Vilhelm Marstrand , Jørgen Roed , Niels Simonsen and Frederik Vermehren . Since then he has worked as a painter in his own studio. A scholarship from the art academy enabled him to spend several years in Italy (1876–1878). a. spent in Rome , Siena , Amalfi and Saracinesco . Between 1883 and 1911, Zahrtmann spent 17 summers in Civita d'Antino in Abruzzo , often with students and friends such as Johannes Wilhjelm . His love for the south found expression in many Italian landscapes and genre paintings.

The autobiography of Leonora Christina Ulfeldt (1621–1698), a Danish king's daughter who had been imprisoned for 22 years, aroused Zahrtmann's longstanding interest in this person, which was only published in 1869 . He depicted scenes from her life in a total of 18 large-format history paintings. Zahrtmann also painted other female figures from Danish or Scandinavian history.

From 1885 to 1908 Zahrtmann led the preparatory class of the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler in Copenhagen, founded in 1882 by Laurits Tuxen and PS Krøyer , later named "Zahrtmanns Schule" for short after him. Founded in deliberate contrast to the Danish art academy, young painters received an alternative training here. In 1917 Zahrtmann died unmarried of complications from appendicitis. He was buried in an urn grave on Vestre Kirkegård (Copenhagen). Among the honors received by Zahrtmann are: a. Bronze medals from the world exhibitions in Paris in 1889 and 1900 and honorary citizenship of Civita d'Antino in 1902. His students include, among others. a. Fritz Syberg , Aage Bertelsen , Poul S. Christiansen , Johannes Larsen , Karl Isakson , Johannes Wilhjelm and Harald Giersing .

plant

Kristian Zahrtmann: Queen Christina in the Palazzo Corsini, 1908. Zahrtmann was fascinated by the ambiguous gender identity of the Swedish Queen Christina, who also wore men's clothes. In the picture, the phallic pipe underlines its masculinity. The synthesis of male spirituality and female physicality is expressed on the one hand by the open book, on the other hand by the fact that the queen reflows her bright blue dress to warm her back by the stove.

Zahrtmann overcame the traditions of academic painting and the Golden Age of Danish art in favor of naturalism and realism . In the increasingly strong coloring of his pictures, he was already approaching Expressionism . He was unique among the Danish painters of his time because he stuck to representational and history painting even when these styles lost their importance. In contemporary criticism, it therefore met with divided echo, which is also reflected in the fact that many of Zahrtmann's important works are still in private hands today. This applies particularly to his late pictures of male figures from Greek mythology and history ( Prometheus , 1904; Sokrates , 1907; Alkibiades , 1911), which have a homoerotic overtone. Today he is considered one of the most important Danish artists of the second half of the 19th century.

Zahrtmann was also a gifted author, as can be seen in his printed memoirs (published in several parts in Tilskueren , 1908–1918) as well as in his correspondence, which was edited by his friend F. Hendriksen ( En Mindebog , 1919).

List of works (selection)

Kristian Zahrtmann: Young women carry lime baskets, 1883. Example of one of his Italian genre paintings from his first summer in Civita d'Antino.

• Scene fra Christian VII's Hof ( scene from the court Christian VII. ), (1873), The Samling Hirschsprungske , Copenhagen
• Leonora Christina i Fængselet ( Leonora Christina in Prison ) (1875), Den Hirschsprungske Samling, Copenhagen
• Dronning Sofie Amalies død ( The Death of Queen Sofie Amalie ) (1882), two versions: Statens Museum for Kunst and Den Hirschsprungske Samling, Copenhagen
• Studenter drager ud til Københavns forsvar 1658 ( Students move out to defend Copenhagen in 1658 ) (1888), Den Hirschsprungske Samling, Copenhagen
• Det mystiske bryllup mellem biskoppen og abbedissen af ​​Pistoja fejres uden for S. Pietro år 1500 ( The mystical wedding between the bishop and the abbess of Pistoia is celebrated outside of St. Peter in 1500 ) (1894), Bornholms Kunstmuseum , Gudhjem
• Havnen ved Portofino ( The Harbor at Portofino ) (1900), Fyns Art Museum, Odense
• Dronning Christina i Palazzo Corsini ( Queen Christina in Palazzo Corsini ) (1908), Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
• Adam i Paradis ( Adam in Paradise ) (1914), private property

literature

• Sophus Danneskjold-Samsoe: Kristian Zahrtmann. Naver, Copenhagen 1942, 602 pp.
• Bjarne Jørnæs: Kristian Zahrtmann . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 16 : Woldbye – Aastrup, supplement, register . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1984, ISBN 87-01-77522-7 , pp. 128–131 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
• Sigurd Müller : Zahrtmann, Peder Henrik Kristian . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 19 : Vind – Oetken . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1905, p. 280-282 (Danish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

Commons : Kristian Zahrtmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bjarne Jørnæs: Kristian Zahrtmann . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 16 : Woldbye – Aastrup, supplement, register . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1984, ISBN 87-01-77522-7 , pp. 128 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
2. ↑ Bjarne Jørnæs: Kristian Zahrtmann . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 16 : Woldbye – Aastrup, supplement, register . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1984, ISBN 87-01-77522-7 , pp. 128–129 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Bjarne Jørnæs: Kristian Zahrtmann . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 16 : Woldbye – Aastrup, supplement, register . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1984, ISBN 87-01-77522-7 , pp. 129 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
4. ^ Hanne Honnens de Lichtenberg: Kristian Zahrtmann. In: The Danske Encyklopædi store . Gyldendal ( denstoredanske.lex.dk ).
5. ^ Hanne Honnens de Lichtenberg: Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler. In: The Store Danske ( denstoredanske.lex.dk ).
6. ↑ Bjarne Jørnæs: Kristian Zahrtmann . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 16 : Woldbye – Aastrup, supplement, register . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1984, ISBN 87-01-77522-7 , pp. 129–130 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
7. ↑ For the interpretation of the picture cf. here the text of the wall label in the Statens Museum for Kunst ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ^ Wilhelm von Rosen: Zahrtmann, (Peder Henrik) Kristian. In: Robert Aldrich, Garry Wotherspoon (Eds.): Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History. Routledge, London 2001, p. 501 f.
9. ↑ Zahrtmann's recollections are published in Tilskueren 25 (1908) pp. 186–193; 30 (1913 / I) pp. 330-342; 31 (1914 / I) pp. 14-23, 152-161, 315-326, 413-421; 35 (1918 / I) pp. 335-340.
10. ^ Frederik Hendriksen: Kristian Zahrtmann: 1843 March 31st - June 22nd 1917: Mindebog bygget over hans egne Optegnelser and Breve from and to ham. Copenhagen 1919. 638 pp. Further letters from Zahrtmann are published in Tilskueren 40 (1923 / I) pp. 216–235.