{"id":3357,"date":"2020-09-01T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T10:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T15:23:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T13:23:36","slug":"wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 1820s, the street of Silkegade in Copenhagen was home to a Norwegian inventor named Jacob Marstrand, from whose desk a wealth of ingenious ideas flowed out: designs for mechanical kneading machines, musical instruments and much more. At Christmas of 1823, the people of Copenhagen could admire the latest invention in the Marstrand home, a panorama that depicted the view from the famous Goose Tower in Vordingborg. Panoramas were a common form of entertainment at the time, usually taking the form of a long painting that encircled the viewers and gave them the impression of looking out from a famous vantage point. But Marstrand\u2019s panorama was something quite different and unexpected: while the painting itself was done by his good friend, professor C.W. Eckersberg, Marstrand had invented a special machine that allowed the audience to sit still while the panorama passed by before their eyes. The viewers could view the landscape go by rather like in a movie in a modern cinema, an experience which undoubtedly challenged their usual way of looking at the world and perceiving images.Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark<\/em> 1987, pp. 63-74, Niels J\u00f8rgen Poulsen has interpreted Marstrand and Eckersberg&rsquo;s works as so-called &lsquo;optic panoramas&rsquo; where audiences would look in at a static, semi-circular panorama through a lens. This claim is contradicted by contemporary sources such as Dagen<\/em>, 22 December 1823. At any rate, it is difficult to argue that the spectator has been called upon to relate to the panorama in a direct physical way, as stated by Karina Lykke Grand in: &lsquo;Det nye blik&rsquo;, in Guld. <\/em>Skatte fra den danske guldalder<\/em>, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus 2013, p. 174.\n\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Jacob Marstrand\u2019s panorama opened a few days after his son Wilhelm turned thirteen, and it is an intriguing thought to imagine the boy watching, trying to capture the fleeting images in the constant stream of pictures. Of course, imagining that this experience had any impact on the future course of the young Wilhelm Marstrand\u2019s life would be pure speculation. Nevertheless, the moving panorama can serve as an allegory of Marstrand\u2019s own inner stream of images. As an adult, he became an almost manically prolific maker of images. The breadth of his work and its colossal scope very clearly demonstrates that his imagination was so well-developed that his hand had to work quickly to capture all the mental images conjured up by him.<\/p>\n

\"\"
strong>Fig. 1.\u00a0Christen K\u00f8bke: Wilhelm Marstrand ved sin staffeli i Eckersbergs atelier<\/em>. Ca. 1829. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 28,5 x 22 cm. Inv.nr A 6167. Det Nationalhistoriske Museum p\u00e5 Frederiksborg Slot. Foto:\u00a0Det Nationalhistoriske Museum p\u00e5 Frederiksborg Slot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Marstrand\u2019s older days, this restless versatility prompted the press and the public to regard him as a genius. In fact, few Danish artists have been the subject of such enthusiastic hero worship as Marstrand during the period from the 1860s up until around the First World War. But the tale built up about his person was a rather atypical one, summarised in the first major biography of him, written by the art historian Karl Madsen and published in 1905.Wilhelm Marstrand<\/em>, Copenhagen 1905. Madsen&rsquo;s book and Gitte Valentiner&rsquo;s monograph Wilhelm Marstrand. Scenebilleder<\/em>, Copenhagen 1992, have formed the basis of the present article.\n\">2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In this narrative we are presented with a painter who struggles to capture his ideas and translate them into finished works, and who was only too aware of not being able to follow through on the drafts and sketches that came so easily to him. Briefly put, Marstrand\u2019s legacy became the tale of a tragically inadequate genius, caught up in a torrent of images.<\/p>\n

Even though almost a century has passed since Marstrand\u2019s pedestal first began to falter, the myth is not without its elements of truth. Marstrand\u2019s versatility is undeniable, and it seems very likely that his good ideas would often be drowned by the steady torrent of new brainwaves and impressions. The sheer quantity of Marstrand\u2019s loosely drawn sketches and half-finished drafts is staggering. But seen through modern eyes, Marstrand\u2019s works also hold qualities that are equally striking, if not more so, than his versatility. The following pages will serve to sum up some of the many aspects that characterised Marstrand and his art compared to his contemporaries, namely his approach to depicting people and the notable ambiguity in his representation of man as a social being; his peculiar way of entering into the discussion on national art; and his constant doubts and questing nature that always admitted the possibility of failure. The hope is that this will help lay down the foundations for an understanding of Marstrand\u2019s immense popularity in his own day and immediate posterity, as well as of the disparaging attitude displayed towards his art over the past hundred years. A main line of inquiry in what follows will be the painter\u2019s image of mankind, a trait of which it can be difficult to form a firm grasp: depending on the eyes that see, it may come across as mocking and leering or as na\u00efvely adoring. In his politics, art and outlook on the world, Marstrand was essentially free of illusions and undogmatic to a degree that seems atypical for the age.<\/p>\n

The road to individuality<\/h2>\n

Marstrand was born into a home rich in social capital when he arrived in this world on Christmas eve of 1810.Maleren Wilhelm Marstrand<\/em>, Copenhagen 2003, pp. 21-30. A record of Marstrand&rsquo;s birth and christening can be found in the parish register for the &lsquo;Hellig\u00e5nds sogn&rsquo; (Parish of the Holy Ghost), 23 January 1811, where the boy&rsquo;s name is listed as Nikolaj Wilhelm Marstrand.\n\">3<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0His inventive, if not very commercially savvy father had an extensive circle of friends that included art academy professor C.W. Eckersberg (1783\u20131853). Given that the young Marstrand\u2019s all-absorbing interest was to draw \u2013 especially witty and caricatured images of the people around him \u2013 it was only natural that in October 1825, at the age of fourteen, he was taken out of school and enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts instead. The following year, in the summer of 1826, he also become a private pupil studying under Eckersberg at his studio, where he soon became part of the inner circle and gradually formed friendships with painters such as Christen K\u00f8bke (1810\u201348), Constantin Hansen (1804\u201380), J\u00f8rgen Roed (1808\u201388), Albert K\u00fcchler (1803\u201386) and Adam M\u00fcller (1811\u201344).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 2. <\/strong>Christen K\u00f8bke: Eckersberg og Marstrand p\u00e5 studieudflugt<\/em>. (1832). Blyant. 147 x 184 mm. Inv.nr. KKSgb1640. Den Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marstrand entered Eckersberg\u2019s studio at a time when the teaching conducted at the academy underwent major changes, adopting a new focus and new fields of activity. Not only had Eckersberg and his colleagues introduced painting with oil paints as part of the curriculum at the academy during the 1820s, a technique we see Marstrand practicing in a painting by Christen K\u00f8bke [fig. 1<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

The academy professors had also begun to encourage students to paint outdoors. A drawing by K\u00f8bke that has taken on almost iconic status today shows the 21-year-old Marstrand during a study excursion to the Dyrehaven park north of Copenhagen, closely observing Eckersberg working with brush and oil paint [fig. 2<\/strong>]. A few months after Marstrand had won the academy\u2019s major silver medal in March 1833, thereby officially graduating from the academy, he witnessed yet another new departure in Danish fine art education: in the summer of that year, the academy began allowing its students to study after female nude models, and Marstrand took part in some of the earliest of these life classes [fig. 3<\/strong>]. By their very nature, such studies were first and foremost exercises in depicting anatomy and delicate skin tones, all in order to ultimately translate the lessons learned into history paintings.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 3.\u00a0<\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Liggende kvindelig rygvendt model.<\/em> (1833). Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 26,8 x 37,3 cm. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Portraits was yet another genre that gave young artists the opportunity to simultaneously practice their technique and seek to convey a personal expression. From the late 1820s to the mid-30s in particular, academy students painted and drew an overwhelming number of portraits that were rarely commissioned works; rather, they tended to arise out of focused explorations of the particular psychology and tools pertaining to the portrait genre. Several of Marstrand\u2019s friends, including K\u00f8bke, Roed and Constantin Hansen, cultivated varieties of an intimate portrait type that create the illusion of a direct connection between the spectator and the sitter. We engage in eye contact with the person portrayed and can imagine ourselves being in the middle of an informal conversation, a feeling often shored up by the sitter\u2019s informal, home-like dress, relaxed pose and unfeigned facial expressions.<\/p>\n

Marstrand would also occasionally try his hand at this intimate form of portraiture and in fact painted one of the true gems of the genre, depicting friend and fellow artist M.G. Bindesb\u00f8ll (1800\u201356) smiling while seated backwards on a chair [fig. 4<\/strong>]. Generally, though, Marstrand seems to have preferred a different path in the 1830s. At any rate, he repeatedly portrayed his sitters with a distant and dreamy gaze; a marked difference from the palpable presence evident in the portraits painted by his friends. It would appear that he took his starting point in Eckersberg\u2019s famous portrait of Bertel Thorvaldsen, then as now the property of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, in which the sculptor is depicted with air of rapt inspiration, his eyes turned to the heavens. Remarkably, Marstrand did not only choose this form of portraiture for artistic temperaments like Eckersberg [fig. 5<\/strong>] and the Holstein art expert and cookbook author C.F. von Rumohr (1785\u20131843), but also when painting portraits of ordinary men, women and children. This is to say that while his peers from the academy were attracted by the direct connection between people, Marstrand seems to have been more concerned with giving the impression of spirituality and a rich inner life. His early portraits became a concrete expression of the importance of the realm of thought in his art \u2013 of humanity\u2019s vivid, almost insistent faculties of imagination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 4. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Arkitekten Gottlieb Bindesb\u00f8ll.<\/em> Ca. 1834. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 31,5 x 26 cm. Inv.nr. KMS1620. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Fig. 5<\/strong>. Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Portr\u00e6t af C.W. Eckersberg.<\/em> 1836. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 34 x 27 cm. Inv.nr. NM 2955. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Foto: Nationalmuseum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marstrand\u2019s view of man<\/h2>\n

The fact that Marstrand chose an ideal portrait form rather than a more earthbound variant may be regarded as a deliberate move away from the individual and particular, aiming instead to capture universal human traits. Such an approach was already evident in some of his earliest works from the Academy of Fine Arts\u2019 annual juried exhibitions, where he began exhibiting his humorous street scenes in 1831 [figs. 6-7<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 6.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Scene ved et konsumtionshus<\/em>. 1831. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 31 x 24,5 cm. Inv.nr. 1918:190X0001. K\u00f8benhavns Museum. Foto: K\u00f8benhavns Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It should be noted that Marstrand\u2019s breakthrough as a humourist coincided with the emergence of a popular vein of humour that permeated almost all the arts and all strata of society.Danish Golden Age<\/em>, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 2019, pp. 249-265.\n\">4<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Not only did the vaudevilles of J.L. Heiberg and Henrik Hertz attract audiences to the Royal Danish Theatre in the second half of the 1820s \u2013 the bourgeoisie was also overcome by a mania for rather more robust, even groanworthy jokes known as \u2018K\u00e6lderm\u00e6nd\u2019 \u2013 literally \u2018cellar-men\u2019. Taking the form of riddles, they often involved puns. One example might be: \u2018In which houses are most balls held?\u2019, To which the answer was: \u2018In the billiards houses\u2019. The mania for these lowbrow jokes is remarkable in that it pervaded all walks of life \u2013 to such an extent that contemporary sources report that for a time they made any genuine, polite conversation impossible. Equally remarkable is the fact that this craze for low wit reached its peak in March 1831, the very same month that Marstrand exhibited his first street scenes. While new booklets compiling the popular cellar-men jokes were published weekly, the twenty-year-old painter offered a similarly cheerful and jesting outlook on everyday life. His street scenes are, thus, expressions of the general popular humour of the times.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 7.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: En flyttedagsscene<\/em>. 1831. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 43 x 50 cm. Inv.nr. 0076NMK. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first two street scenes by Marstrand presented to public view were his Scene from a Toll Booth <\/em>[fig. 6<\/strong>] and Moving Day <\/em>[fig. 7<\/strong>].Kopenhagener Kunstblatt oder Beilage zu den Mittheilungen aus dem Norden<\/em>, no. 5, 8 March 1832, pp. 19-20.\n\">5<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Both were received with great praise and were immediately purchased for Kunstforeningen (The Copenhagen Art Society), an important meeting place for art lovers in Copenhagen. But even though the humour appears coarse and shallow at first glance, the message may run deeper than being simply a moral injunction about the follies and vices of city dwellers. For example, the Scene from a Toll Booth<\/em> shows us how the peasant woman\u2019s attempt to smuggle a ham through the Vesterport gate is thwarted by the pointy-nosed customs officer and his dog. In the background is a sentry guard protecting the privileges of the royal city against the farmers entering from the surrounding provinces. And above the tree tops behind him, we can just make out the Liberty Column originally erected to gratefully acknowledge the granting of partial freedom to the peasantry, bestowed by the grace of the king in 1788. While the joke dominates the foreground, the background\u2019s juxtaposition of soldier and obelisk may convey a more serious statement about the scope of the liberty reforms. Freedom and its limitations presented in one and the same image.<\/p>\n

The following year, in the spring of 1832, Marstrand\u2019s most famous painting in the genre was presented to the public: Street Scene. Dog Days<\/em> [fig. 8<\/strong>]. Once again, the message evident on the surface concerns the folly of the citizens. According to the leading art critic of the time, N.L. H\u00f8yen (1798\u20131870), we are witnessing an amusing misunderstanding between a dog trainer and dog catcher: the latter is trying to catch a stray dog, but the dog trainer mistakenly believes that he is targeting his flock of pedigree dogs and according attacks in their defence.Kunstmuseets Aarsskrift<\/em>, IV, 1917, pp. 4-6. A briefer reading published in Ki\u00f8benhavnsposten, 27 April 1833, expressed the same view.\n\">6<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The work parades the follies of conceit and hot-temperedness, but perhaps we may also make out a level of political satire in this scene. One could certainly choose to interpret the scene to say that the well-bred are protected while those of less noble stock are more at risk \u2013 that in class society, we are not equal in the eyes of the law.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 8. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: En gadescene i hundedagene<\/em>. 1832. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 58 x 52,5 cm. Inv.nr. KMS2071. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Marstrand\u2019s street scenes can hardly be described as social critique, they do, all things considered, display a more sincere interest in other people\u2019s conditions than he is generally given credit for. The humourist\u2019s seemingly superficial way of reducing the people of the city to primitive, one-dimensional \u00a0types \u2013 the tight-fisted, the lazy, the villainous \u2013 has been the subject of greatly varied interpretations. The art historian Henrik Bramsen (1908\u20132002) represents a relatively recent view of Marstrand: in 1990 he described the humour as harsh, vicious and unkind, while also finding traces of sadism and brutality in the depiction.Kunst i enev\u00e6ldens sidste hundrede \u00e5r<\/em>, Copenhagen 1990, pp. 159-160.\n\">7<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0This reading contrasts sharply with how the street scenes were perceived back in their own day, as related by Julius Lange in 1865: \u2018Even if a certain amount of leering can also be found here and there in these pictures, the main impression conveyed by them remains one of free, pure and innocent comedy\u2019.Dansk Maanedsskrift<\/em>, 1865, II (republished in Billedkunst<\/em>, Copenhagen 1873, p. 168).\n\">8<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0One should, then, be careful not to read too much cruelty into Marstrand\u2019s genre pictures. Modern viewers might easily fall into the trap of viewing these street scenes as examples of real people being ridiculed and shamed \u2013 as if the artist was kicking out at those less fortunate than himself. However, his own contemporaries were apparently better able to read the paintings as a kind of Punch and Judy show, offering an exposition of human characteristics that harboured no illusions about mankind, but which was not really malicious to real people or specific social classes.9<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand\u2019s genre paintings were very much created to appeal to the common man, becoming accordingly widespread. Not only were the annual exhibitions in Charlottenborg a very popular entertainment at the time, drawing quite astonishing crowds.Guldalderens billedverden<\/em>, Copenhagen 2019.\n\">10<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The humorous street scenes were also reproduced as lithographic prints in the various journals of the time and as individual sheets, thereby reaching even wider audiences \u2013 albeit often several years late. Even though a given painting was, by the very nature of things, intended for a single buyer with an interest in art, its subject matter could be far more widely viewed and appreciated by the very people who, to present-day sensibilities, appear to be the subjects of ridicule.<\/p>\n

The fact that Marstrand\u2019s human figures should not be perceived as offensive caricatures, but rather as depictions of something universally human, adds greater nuance to the outlook of art associated with the period, which is often \u2013 and rather simplistically \u2013 regarded as being entirely defined by the teachings of Eckersberg. According to the professor\u2019s writings, which are by no means unambiguous, the artist\u2019s objective was to depict the true image which nature first allowed him to glimpse, and which knowledge of the laws of nature enabled him to perfect. For the painters of the period, of which there were many, this view of art finds expression in an interest in the study of nature and, hence, of the intimate and specific. This is especially true of painters like K\u00f8bke and Martinus R\u00f8rbye (1803\u201348) and genres such as landscape painting and intimate portrait painting.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 9.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: En auktionsscene<\/em>. 1835. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 80 x 117 cm. Inv.nr. NM 7477. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Foto: Cecilia Heisser \/ Nationalmuseum 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marstrand, on the other hand, painted almost no landscapes, and his depictions of figures are generally not about individuals, but about human types. This comes to the fore in a painting like Scene from an Auction<\/em> from 1835 [fig. 9<\/strong>], where we witness a perfectly everyday sight at the time: an auction of chattels, attracting a throng of citizens eager for a bargain. The main narrative focuses on the womenfolk engaged in a fierce struggle for a red uniform coat, but the chaotic scene also gave Marstrand the opportunity to create a wealth of depictions of distinctive physiognomies that a modern observer would not hesitate to describe as caricatures. However, it should be noted that these are not caricatures of specific individuals \u2013 rather, they offer a way of representing universal human traits such as wrath, covetousness, vanity and sloth. Marstrand thus represents his own branch of \u2018Golden Age\u2019 art, one which focuses on the general rather than the specific \u2013 not on places, situations or phenomena, but characteristics. In this, we may find the seeds of later generations\u2019 lack of understanding of Marstrand\u2019s portrayal of human beings, which simply did not satisfy posterity\u2019s fervent wish to always see nature mirrored in art.<\/p>\n

In his own day, Marstrand\u2019s street scenes sparked a wealth of imitations. In 1832, Martinus R\u00f8rbye sought to elevate the genre to a more ideal level, borrowing a conceit from the seventeenth-century painter Caesar van Everdingen and letting a modern-day version of the misanthropic philosopher Diogenes walk the streets of Copenhagen with a lamp in full daylight.\u00c4sthetik der skandinavischen Moderne. <\/em>Bernhard Glienke zum Gedenken<\/em>, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 287, note 9.\n\">11<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Around 1833, the slightly younger painter Edvard Lehmann (1815\u20131892) created a painting of the perils of the street, humorously placing the scene outside the very same house where Marstrand lived.Det kongelige M\u00f8belmagasin og k\u00f8benhavnersnedkerne. Danske m\u00f8bler efter 1777<\/em>, s.l. 1991, pp. 126-127; Lene B\u00f8gh R\u00f8nberg: &lsquo;Borgerligt hjemmeliv i de to guldaldre &ndash; P\u00e5virkninger og sammenh\u00e6nge&rsquo; in: I lyset af Holland<\/em>, The National Gallery of Denmark 2001, p. 75. The painting has previously been ascribed to Ditlev Blunck, see Sotheby&rsquo;s, London, 21 June 1983.\n\">12<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0To put it briefly, the young Marstrand \u2013 only 22 at the time \u2013 was generally accepted as the master of the genre, the one to whom all others must relate. When, a few years later, he exhibited his Scene from an Auction <\/em>alongside a smaller picture of a woman with her dress caught in the front door, it prompted one reviewer to enthusiastically reaffirm Marstrand\u2019s talent for comedy:<\/p>\n

Anyone looking to have their lungs stirred up need look no further than Mr Marstrand\u2019s sketch no. 96; it will surely not fail to exercise its Wesselesque effect. As small as it is, it nevertheless offers a bright flash of its master\u2019s keen sense of comedy; it is like a prelude for the play awaiting us in the \u2018Auction Scene\u2019 by the same artist. [\u2026] Indeed, the audience\u2019s laughter is the best possible praise that could be heaped upon this most excellent sketch.Ki\u00f8benhavnsposten<\/em>, 20 April 1836. The &lsquo;sketch&rsquo; of the woman in the doorway was sold at Bruun Rasmussen&rsquo;s auction 876, 28 November 2017, lot 13.\n\">13<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, while the comic street scenes won him popular attention and critical acclaim, they also firmly assigned Marstrand the role as a humorous painter; a typecasting from which he would later struggle to extricate himself.<\/p>\n

Great ambitions<\/h2>\n

The young academy students enjoyed a great degree of freedom to experiment with informal subjects and break down the boundaries between the different genres of painting, if only they remembered to observe the more firmly set conventions when it came to the more prestigious and saleable genres. History painting remained the leading genre, and Marstrand did not oppose to this view. On the contrary, he dutifully took part in the competitions for the Academy of Fine Art\u2019s gold medals, which were awarded for the best rendition of a given biblical or literary subject. However, it would appear that his reputation as a humorous storyteller became his greatest obstacle.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 10. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Nausikaa bringer den skibbrudne Odysseus kl\u00e6der.<\/em> (1835). Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 106 x 85 cm. Inv.nr. KMS3891. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1833, when the assignment set for those wishing to compete for a gold medal was a portrayal of the Flight into Egypt<\/em>, Marstrand\u2019s sketch was initially approved for execution, but in the final assessment there was general agreement that he would not be awarded the prize, but had to settle for a special commendation.14<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The depth of Marstrand\u2019s wish to prove his worth as a history painter and thereby earn himself a travel scholarship is evident two years later when he once again had the opportunity to compete for a gold medal. The subject was Odysseus and Nausicaa<\/em>, but at the time the competition was about to begin, Marstrand was travelling in Norway alongside landscape painters Louis Gurlitt (1812\u201397), Johann Mohr (1808\u201343) and Johann Heinrich Martens (1815\u201343), and the irregular steamboat shipping service prevented him from getting back in time. However, his letter of apology did arrive in time, enabling Eckersberg to ask for an exemption on his behalf. The next day, Eckersberg was able to pick up his student on the dock, rushing him off to one of the small wooden cells given to each contestant in which to work.15<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0All their efforts came to nought, however: once again, Marstrand received neither a prize nor a grant [fig. 10<\/strong>]. The academy\u2019s professors and other members presumably concurred with the art critic who found that Marstrand had too extensively \u2018perceived the comedic aspects of the given situation\u2019. The critic was particularly struck by the inappropriateness of the hero\u2019s apparent embarrassment at his nudity, the princess\u2019s slightly suppressed smile and the mischievous, indulgent or curiously whispering maids.Ki\u00f8benhavnsposten<\/em>, 25 September 1835. Based on the tone of voice, the anonymous reviewer may be tentatively identified as the 22-year-old K.F. Wiborg.\n\">16<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The critique speaks eloquently of how Marstrand was regarded as humourist through and through; a view that apparently prevented audiences from appreciating his efforts in a more serious genre.<\/p>\n

The fact that Marstrand repeatedly competed for gold medals to no avail was by no means unusual \u2013 in fact,\u00a0 it had become very rare for the major gold medal to be awarded to anyone. More interesting in this context is Marstrand\u2019s reaction, which is symptomatic of his involvement in art politics, one which lasted his entire career, as well as of his rebellion and self-awareness as a member of the artist\u2019s profession. In a letter to his friend Constantin Hansen, he vented not only his disappointment with the Academy Council\u2019s decision, but also his bitterness towards the Academy\u2019s position of power in the Danish art scene in general:<\/p>\n

You may be aware that the most exalted academy has not deemed me worthy to rest in the shade of their Tree of Knowledge, nor to drink from the Hippocrene fountain which trickles only sparingly from Mount Parnassus onto the Kongens Nytorv square. [\u2026], but we have a saying here lately, which goes \u2013 \u2018it is all the same\u2019 \u00a0[\u2026] a calm reassurance has come into my soul that I did not know before, a striving to grow independently, and a clarity about the way this should be done now fills me [\u2026] . If there is anything original in me, then it will certainly be allowed to act exactly as it wants; once the soul has reached a certain maturity it should not be bound. It is by myself that I shall make something of myself, others cannot make me so, and I will show them that I am not afraid to stand on my own two feet. If even winged Pegasus himself will not allow me to sit proudly in the saddle, I shall still catch hold of its tail [\u2026].17<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 11<\/strong>.\u00a0Detalje af signaturen i:\u00a0En gadescene i hundedagene <\/em>[fig. 8].<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nIn fact, Marstrand\u2019s ambition was to extend his reach to include the highest and lowest genres of art alike. In Street Scene. Dog Days<\/em> [fig. 11<\/strong>] he has incorporated his own signature in the upper left corner, painting his name and the date on a painter\u2019s street sign, which is also decorated with a pair of criss-crossing brushes: one small and delicate, the other large and broad. Just as in the real streets and alleys of the city, this sign was an advertisement, in this case proclaiming the young Marstrand\u2019s willingness to undertake all kinds of tasks, even the demanding decorative assignments.<\/p>\n

Carefree Italy<\/h2>\n

Foundering in the competition for a gold medal in 1835 made Marstrand defiantly turn his back on the usual career path of academy-trained artists, at least for a time. In March of the following year, he submitted an application to the royal foundation in charge of supporting the arts and sciences, Fondet ad usus publicos<\/em>. Tellingly, he did not insist on the rank of a history painter here, but signed off as a portrait and genre painter.18<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0His objective was to obtain funding for a two-year trip abroad, and as a portrait and genre painter the Academy was able to give him their warmest recommendations \u2018as the most talented and most highly developed young artist within his discipline\u2019. The money was pledged to him, and in mid-August Marstrand travelled via Berlin and Dresden to Munich. After a few weeks in the Tyrol, he continued via Switzerland to Italy, where he arrived in Rome on 3 December 1836.<\/p>\n

Life in and around Rome was overwhelmingly rich in subject matter for a genre painter, so it is hardly surprising that the flow of images created by Marstrand grew in strength and scope. A month after his arrival, he wrote to Eckersberg: \u2018I have seen much, almost too much, for I am overflowing with ideas and one displaces the other, with not enough time for the soul to properly process them\u2019.Det nittende Aarhundrede<\/em>, October 1876, pp. 58-62).\n\">19<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0For the rest of his life, Marstrand would return to Italian subjects that he had seen and experienced only once. Even sketches that appear to be based on immediate observation may have been committed to paper decades later, making any attempt to date his thousands of Italian scenes almost doomed to fail.Wilhelm Marstrand &ndash; The Great Storyteller<\/em>, 2020-21,&nbsp;Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Ribe Kunstmuseum, Skovgaard Museet og Nivaagaards Malerisamling.\n\">20<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 12. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0En f\u00e6ngselsscene i Rom<\/em>. 1837. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 62 x 50 cm. Inv.nr. 0202NMK. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marstrand\u2019s first journey to Italy was not only important because it gave him new and rich fuel for his image-making imagination. His time there would also prove decisive for the overall direction of his portrayal of people: in his depictions of Italian folk life, he distanced himself from the comedic street scenes from Copenhagen. His view of the Italians was markedly different from the one-dimensional types he had painted in Denmark. The Italians had a more alluring ambiguity: their naturalness and carefree lives were admirable, but the lack of onerous seriousness was also the trait that made them involuntarily comical. More than any other Danish artist, Marstrand united deep respect with loving ridicule in his Italian genre pictures. Over and over, Marstrand\u2019s Italian images are about la dolce vita <\/em>under the southern skies, even as he also takes a wryly ironic look at the childish na\u00efvety that underpinned it.<\/p>\n

This duality was already evident in his first Italian genre piece, A Prison Scene in Rome<\/em>, commissioned by Kunstforeningen back home in Copenhagen [fig. 12<\/strong>]. The theme is the Italians\u2019 astonishingly laissez-faire attitude towards justice and punishment. The prison has a street-level window that allows the criminals to take part in city life; a canopy protects them from the rain and sun while their friends on the outside come round for a game of cards. The fruit vendor even looks on magnanimously while his younger, well-dressed companion appears to be having his cards clandestinely read by the incorrigible prisoners. The authorities are nowhere to be seen; indeed, urchins have even had the effrontery to draw a caricature of a gendarme on the prison wall itself. Where a Dane would expect harshness and consistency on the part of the authorities, we here observe a sense of indulgence and, perhaps, a greater sense of humanity.<\/p>\n

The duality of this carefree existence obviously runs much deeper than the superficial view of Italian life as it appeared the eyes of many travellers. Marstrand himself complained that most genre painters of the age tended to overlook the importance of portraying the true character of the people, focusing too much on external appearances:<\/p>\n

Here one usually hears the genre painters speak of the lovely costumes, beautiful scenes of buildings and trees et cetera as if the inner, spiritual expression of the human condition resided in the outer shell. Just see what Holberg was able to see in the Danish nation.Vilhelm Marstrand. <\/em>Breve og Uddrag af Breve fra denne Kunstner<\/em>, K\u00f8benhavn 1880, p. 41). Note that Raffenberg&rsquo;s edition of the artist&rsquo;s letters should be used with caution as he is known to have extensively edited Marstrand&rsquo;s words, cf. Madsen 1905, pp. 44-45.\n\">21<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus, Marstrand regarded the depiction of the people\u2019s customs and outlook on life as a point of entry of their \u2018inner, spiritual expression\u2019. As he put it in a letter to his brother Osvald in March of 1840: \u2018in the small things in life we learn to see the big picture\u2019.22<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0And Holberg offers a point of reference for understanding and portraying a people\u2019s character. One point where Marstrand might have studied Holberg in particular depth concerns the unspoken ambiguities of different types. In Holberg, the character of Erasmus Montanus is ridiculous in the eyes of the audience as long as he conceitedly bandies false wisdom around \u2013 but when he is brought low on a matter where he is actually right, he at once becomes simultaneously ridiculous, pitiful and strangely sympathetic. In Holberg and in Marstrand\u2019s Italian pictures, the comic figure is reminiscent of an ambiguous image; slowly, almost imperceptibly, they take on universally human features in the eyes of the audience. This endeavour to balance sympathy with gentle ridicule also found expression in Marstrand\u2019s next major genre painting, which depicts the traditional celebration of the Feast of St. Anthony, held in the week following 17 January [fig. 13<\/strong>]. On that occasion, the Italians would bring their livestock to the church for a blessing, which in the eyes of the Nordic artists was a touching example of folklore and popular belief in the midst of a laughable chaos of baying and howling creatures. At once solemn and utterly comical, this subject was as if made for Marstrand.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 13.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Skt. Antonius-festen i Rom<\/em>. 1838. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 74 x 97 cm. Privateje. Foto: Ole Akh\u00f8j.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Fig. 14. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Romerske borgere forsamlet til lystighed i et osteria<\/em>. 1839. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 74 x 97 cm. Inv.nr. 0182NMK. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Naturally, the subtle comedy of everyday life was particularly pronounced in the eyes of strangers unfamiliar with what they saw. Many travellers \u2013 perhaps most of them \u2013 would have become aware of their role as outsiders, as uncomprehending spectators to customs that did not always make sense to them. This role as spectator was the subject of Marstrand\u2019s next major genre piece, depicting a scene of merriment outside a Roman tavern [fig. 14<\/strong>] \u2013 a subject which, as noted by Charlotte Christensen, was strongly inspired by the painter Franz Catel. To the right, locals amuse themselves with wine and dance. The host is rushed off his feet and failing to meet demand \u2013 the decanters are empty both above and below the stairs. Outside the gate, a group of young women arrive to further fan the flames of the fun. The Nordic guests to the left fail to become part of the party, settling instead for a spot as observers on the sidelines. A well-intentioned attempt to offer a woman a glass of wine is sternly rebuffed by a chaperone raising an admonishing finger. The Danes are strangers here, so much outside of their element that the wine merchant Waagepetersen \u2013 who commissioned the picture \u2013 even sticks to water. In one of the studies, the gift being rejected by the chaperone was not even a glass of the local wine, but a foamy glass of beer.23<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand depicts the two nationalities as two separate worlds that cannot possibly truly take part in each other\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

One of the main themes of Marstrand\u2019s Italian images concerns how the merriment and pleasures of Rome seemed to be an intrinsic part of everyday life. For example, his favourite motifs included a scene where young Roman men and women have effortlessly and self-indulgently built an improvised swing in the tavern door. Wine, fun and dance were as natural parts of life as work, and Marstrand elaborated further on this observation in what may be his most famous Italian genre painting: a depiction of a group of Romans on their way home from festivities during the wine harvest in the regions around the city [fig. 15<\/strong>]. The scene appears to be set outside the Porta Pia city gate, which we must imagine being on the left outside of the picture before us. The building on the right seems to be the inn \u2018Mezzo miglio\u2019, which (as the name implies) was located approximately one kilometre from the city gate. We see, then, that Marstrand has greatly condensed the topography of his scene for the sake of composition, placing the inn quite close to the city wall \u2013 further shortening the distance between fun-filled celebration and everyday life. Martinus R\u00f8rbye, who generally did not look kindly on Marstrand, remarked with approval that in this picture his fellow artist had beautifully captured the Italian \u2018Folk Character\u2019, encapsulating the heart and soul of an entire people in a single act.24<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Just like his Copenhagen street scenes, Marstrand\u2019s outlook on humanity was still carried by generalisations, but perhaps he now applied a more unambiguously sympathetic gaze.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 15. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Lystighed udenfor Roms mure p\u00e5 en oktoberaften<\/em>. 1839. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 91 x 123 cm. Inv.nr. B258. Thorvaldsens Museum. Foto: Ole Woldbye.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like the prison scene and the Feast of Saint Anthony, the osteria scene and October Festival Evening Outside the Walls of Rome<\/em> also contain a sense of wonder at things and issues that are strikingly foreign. Often, such wonder had to do with gender roles and the place of faith in everyday life, which would probably have puzzled the Scandinavian visitors more than anything else. To a Danish observer, Roman folk life presented a decidedly unaccustomed role for women: the women of the South were perceived as much more free, unshackled by convention, yet never really approachable. And this female role found its counter-image in the mannish, rather more comic female figure represented in the osteria scene by the firm chaperone. Several of Marstrand\u2019s ink drawings depict such a matronly figure riding side by side with a monk \u2013 he riding sidesaddle, and she riding astrideUdstilling af dansk Kunst fra Italien til Fordel for de N\u00f8dlidende i Syditalien<\/em>, Charlottenborg 1909, p. 49.\n\">25<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0\u2013 firmly establishing who was wearing the trousers. On the whole, the clergy were one of the only social groups that Marstrand would describe as absolutely ridiculous, pulling no punches and adding no nuance. His favourite types included monks flirting with the young women, and well-nourished priests fobbing off the beggars with a quick blessing [fig. 16<\/strong>]. The second group that Marstrand would mercilessly lambast was the tourists, whose reputation and achievements were summed up in his painting of the well-fed English traveller falling asleep in his gondola [fig. 17<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 16. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Kardinalen i kirked\u00f8ren velsigner tiggere<\/em>. Efter 1860. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 57 x 52 cm. Inv.nr. 0120NMK. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Fig. 17.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Rejsende i Venedig<\/em>. (1854). Olie p\u00e5 papir kl\u00e6bet p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 35,3 x 26,4 cm. Inv.nr. 303. Den Hirschsprungske Samling. Foto: \u00a9 Den Hirschsprungske Samling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In international waters<\/h2>\n

Marstrand\u2019s first sojourn in Rome proved decisive for his international outlook and, thus, also for his ambitions on behalf of Danish art. In Rome he took part in the diverse art scene and diligently exhibited his art side by side with the other foreigners at the city\u2019s annual exhibitions. Back then, one would generally find that the Danes in the city mingled mainly with each other and the other Scandinavians. The German artists, on the other hand, remained casual acquaintances only for most Danes, someone one might occasionally see at artists\u2019 celebrations and excursions, but with whom one would only rarely engage in artistic exchanges. For example, Marstrand joined R\u00f8rbye and Bindesb\u00f8ll in singing in a choir set up by German artists, but he did not leave things at that; he was among the few Danes who also formed very close friendships with foreign artists.26<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In fact, the friendships grew so strong that he would even bring home their portraits, including one of the Swiss history and genre painter Albert Landerer (1816\u201393), who would later become famous for National Romantic scenes from his country\u2019s illustrious past.27<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Another \u2018good friend\u2019 was Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (1807\u201363), who was a professor at the art academy in D\u00fcsseldorf \u2013 an institution generally regarded as anathema to all Danish painters thanks to influential formers of opinion such as N.L. H\u00f8yen.28<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0One will frequently see the Danes\u2019 letters and diaries referencing the oft-repeated objection that the Germans (like the French, Italians and other foreigners in general) did not know how to draw and lacked proper knowledge of perspective. Marstrand, however, was by no means prejudiced against German artists, and he particularly admired their use of glazes to create luminous colours, an effect he sought to emulate in paintings such as the aforementioned October Festival Evening Outside the Walls of Rome<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 18.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Portr\u00e6t af Edward Lear<\/em>. 1840. Blyant. 182 x 110 mm. Inv.nr. NPG 3055. National Portrait Gallery, London. Foto: \u00a9 National Portrait Gallery, London.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps we can form some idea of the cosmopolitan environment in Rome through Marstrand\u2019s use of models. Particularly distinctive models could achieve great fame in the city, and the artists arriving there were keenly aware of the renowned models that had previously appeared in famous works. One of the models whom Marstrand sought out during his later sojourn in Italy was Giacomo Orlandi, who can be recognised in a double three-quarters portrait from 1846 depicting A Fisherman and a Farmer<\/em>.29<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Orlandi already had a well-established name among the foreign painters in the city and was on his way to becoming a major brand name among the models of Rome. By that time he had worked for e.g. French artist Jean-L\u00e9on G\u00e9r\u00f4me (1824\u20131904), and in the 1850s he would pose for painters such as Frederick Leighton (1830\u201396), Edgar Degas (1834\u20131917), Gustave Moreau (1826\u201398) and Anselm Feuerbach (1829\u201380).Degas in The Art Institute of Chicago<\/em>, Chicago and New York 1984, p. 19; Treasures. A Selection of Works on Paper, Paintings and Sculptures. Le Claire Kunst, catalogue 37<\/em>, Hamburg 2019, cat. 3. A painting done using the same model and previously attributed to&nbsp;Gustave Courbet is the property of Ordrupgaard.\n\">30<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Of course, Marstrand could have had no idea about what lay ahead for his model, but nevertheless the example speaks volumes about his involvement in the Roman art scene and about the tradition and milieu of which he became part.<\/p>\n

Marstrand\u2019s closest friendship during his first time in Rome was with the English poet and draughtsman Edward Lear (1812\u201380) [fig. 18<\/strong>]. Today, Lear is best known for his nonsense poems, meaning that he was distinguished by an unconventional sense of humour that would undoubtedly have been an excellent match for Marstrand\u2019s. During the years 1839 and 1840 their friendship was so close that some authors have entertained ideas about a more intimate relationship between them.Edward Lear and the Play of Poetry<\/em>, James Williams and Matthew Bevis (eds.)., Oxford 2016, pp. 90-91. The theme is also addressed in Jenny Uglow: Mr. Lear. A Life of Art and Nonsense<\/em>, London 2017. I am grateful to Charlotte Christensen for calling my attention to the latter reference.\n\">31<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0However, it is more likely that Marstrand and Lear simply cultivated the Romantic, passionate form of friendship so widespread during the period, not least among artists. Jens Adolf Jerichau and the German-English animal painter Bottomley supposedly never left each other\u2019s side for two years in Rome, while letters exchanged between Johan Thomas Lundbye and P.C. Skovgaard refer to friendship as a kind of alternative to marriage.32<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The friendship between Marstrand and Lear was of the same ilk, meaning that it is mainly spectacular for the impact it had on Marstrand\u2019s art, particularly his approach to the medium of drawing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 19.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Skomagerens hus i Nemi<\/em>. Ca. 1837. Blyant, pen og bl\u00e6k samt vandfarve. 217 x 273 mm. Inv.nr. KKSgb5431. Den Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From idea to paper<\/h2>\n

According to the accepted mythology about Marstrand, it was during his first stay abroad that his rich imagination and tireless capacity for invention seriously proved itself something of a mixed blessing. What we can say for certain is that the sheer amount of impressions now had a palpable impression on his ability or willingness to thoroughly work through every whim and every observation in meticulous studies. One reviewer later remarked that \u2018his extraordinary wealth of ideas compelled him to work fast, and the innate ease with which he committed his ideas to canvas was occasionally apparent in his technique\u2019.Aarhuus Stifts-Tidende<\/em>, 9 April 1873.\n\">33<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Whatever the case may be,\u00a0 Marstrand would convert the rich seams mined in Italian folk life into rapidly executed sketches and drawings.<\/p>\n

\u200bOne of the things that most clearly sets apart Marstrand from the general throng of his contemporaries is his approach to the medium of drawing. No later than by the summer of 1837, he had gradually tried his hand at using the pen as a drawing tool, which was becoming something of an anomaly among Danish artists. Since the death of Nicolai Abildgaard in 1809 and the arrival of Eckersberg and J.L. Lund as professors nine years later, artists had been encouraged to rate analytical clarity and crisp outlines higher than the dynamic sweep of lines and the picturesque effect of the drawing. Hence, the hard lead pencil had become the preferred tool, while the quill pen \u2013 whose elastic line required a certain measure of ease and spontaneity \u2013 was ostracised. While Marstrand\u2019s technical experiment may seem rather modest in scope upon cursory inspection, it nevertheless saw him oppose the dominant view of the drawing medium. Initially, he mainly used the pen for Italian street scenes, often incorporating mere hints of watercolour [fig. 19<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 20. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Gademusikanter<\/em>. Pen og bl\u00e6k. 57 x 45 mm. Inv.nr. KKS7238. Den Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These drawings bear a striking resemblance to what Edward Lear produced during his stay in Rome, and Marstrand could hardly have avoided finding further confirmation and encouragement in his explorations of penmanship through his interaction with his friend. The lessons learned during his time in Rome would later form the basis of Marstrand\u2019s important activities as a draughtsman from the 1840s onwards. For the rest of his career, he was most freely expressive in those drawings where explored the steel pen, the more calligraphic quill pen, the wider reed pen and the painterly wash brush [figs. 20-21<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

Over time, these drawings proved very important for the development of Danish art, becoming a benchmark for artists such as Carl Bloch (1834\u201390), L.A. Schou (1838\u201367), Otto Bache (1839\u20131927), Theodor Philipsen (1840\u20131920) and, ultimately, several of the Skagen painters. The number of such drawings by Marstrand\u2019s hand is so vast that he must certainly qualify \u00a0as the most prolific Danish artist of the nineteenth century. His drawings can be found in their thousands \u2013 and probably tens of thousands \u2013 in Danish collections. A contemporary anecdote claims that when Marstrand noticed the prices his drawings were sold for, he actually embarked on a speculative overproduction of drawings for the market. The story is unlikely to be true, for Marstrand was already extremely productive long before he achieved such fame. It is more likely that the drawings acted as Marstrand\u2019s observatory, in the sense that they were how he made his observations on human characters. In a way, Marstrand\u2019s overwhelming drawn oeuvre is a parallel to his colleagues\u2019 far less substantial albums of landscape studies.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 21. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: B\u00f8dlen tager ordensk\u00e6den og sv\u00e6rdet fra falskneren Christopher Rosenkrantz. <\/em>(1861). Blyant, pen og bl\u00e6k. 159 x 134 mm. Inv.nr. KKSgb7258. Den Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In any case, Marstrand left behind an extremely extensive body of work; upon his death, it took no less than ten auctions to get just a portion of it sold. Although his family kept large numbers of drawings, they ended up holding five auctions featuring more than 5,000 lots in addition to sketchbooks, folders and packages with unspecified leaves. In the decades that followed, these drawings became popular collector\u2019s items, a popularity which did not wane until the interwar period. In the mid-1880s, a single collector owned a collection of more than 400 leaves by Marstrand.34<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And when Kunstforeningen (the Copenhagen Art Society) set up a huge Marstrand exhibition in 1898, the drawings had only grown even more popular: almost 2,000 drawings were on display, and many collectors had lent more than fifty pieces to the event; professor Nikolai B\u00f8gh (1843\u20131905) and the sculptor G.C. Freund (1821\u20131900) both contributed well over a hundred. Interest peaked around World War I; for example, the painter Frans Schwartz (1850\u20131917) had 95 framed Marstrand drawings on his walls, while the physician Georg Mentz (1858\u20131934) built a collection of no less than 258 drawings, also framed. All these figures are provided only to underline the intensity of the cult of Marstrand the draughtsman in the decades following his death. Owning drawings by his hand was quite simply a sure sign of good taste and knowledge of the arts. The prices also reached very high levels in the hysterical market of the war years \u2013 in 1916, the Royal Collection of Graphic Art paid no less than 1,100 kroner for the pen drawing The dot on the nose<\/em> at Mentz\u2019s auction [fig. 22<\/strong>]. At about the same time, a Picasso drawing could be purchased for 100 kroner in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 22. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Prikken p\u00e5 n\u00e6sen<\/em>. Ca. 1850\u2019erne. Pen og bl\u00e6k samt blyant. 332 x 301 mm. Inv.nr. KKS7236. Den Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The eager cultivation of Marstrand\u2019s art was quite simply rooted in the fact that the individual drawings were seen as representative of the artist\u2019s wealth of ideas, a quality that was much admired. The ideal was a familiar one, not least from eighteenth-century Italy where the ability to vary a composition elicited great acclaim. In a \u2013 possibly apocryphal \u2013 anecdote, the art scholar Giannantonio Moschini (1773\u20131840) relates how the Venetian painter Domenico Tiepolo (1727\u20131804) had been criticised for a lack of ingenuity, so in order to defy his critics he drew up series of drawings depicting the same subject in a large number of variations.Dell&rsquo; Incisione in Venezia<\/em>, Venice 1924, p. 162; James Byam Shaw: The Drawings of Domenico Tiepolo<\/em>, London 1962, p. 31.\n\">35<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0Marstrand demonstrated a similar willingness to vary a given motif indefinitely, a trait which Danish collectors valued as highly as their Italian predecessors a century before. By the late nineteenth century, every collector and every art auction was able to show new variants of the same scenes taken from around a dozen literary works or from Italian folk life. As described by Karl Madsen in his 1905 Marstrand monograph, the artist was able to return again and again to subjects he had seen many years before, recreating them in new forms. Hence it is rarely possible to determine whether a drawing is a study or the result of imagination and recollection.Danske Tegninger. Fra Melchior Lorck til Fynboerne<\/em>, K\u00f8benhavn 1945, vol. 1, pp. 108-112.\n\">36<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0It was this constant reworking and variation that fascinated posterity.<\/p>\n

The curse of Danishness<\/h2>\n

When Marstrand left Rome in 1840, his initial plan was supposedly to reach Copenhagen without hesitation. Instead, he made a prolonged stop in Munich, where he immediately became part of the city\u2019s vibrant artist community. Here he could socialise with a circle of German-influenced Danish artists, but also, and far more importantly, the local circle of German painters. A central figure was the history painter Peter von Cornelius (1783\u20131867), who was worshipped with near-religious fervour; Marstrand was one of very few Danes to take part in a party arranged in von Cornelius\u2019s honour.Fra min Ungdom<\/em>, Copenhagen 1874.\n\">37<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0However, Marstrand himself was far more enthusiastic about the painter Wilhelm Kaulbach (1805\u201374), whose praises he sang in a letter \u00a0to Eckersberg back in Denmark.Det nittende Aarhundrede<\/em>, October 1876, pp. 58-62).\n\">38<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand soon gained a certain popularity in Munich on his own, eyeing an opportunity to sell repeats of most important paintings from Rome, including variants on the scene from the Feast of Saint Anthony, the prison scene and October Festival Evening Outside the Walls of Rome<\/em>.\nThe three replicas are mentioned in Madsen 1905, pp. 80-81, and in Ejner Johansson: De danske malere i M\u00fcnchen. Et ukendt kapitel i dansk guldalderkunst<\/em>, Copenhagen 1997, p. 140-142. The replica of October Festival Evening Outside the Walls of Rome<\/em> was supposedly sold at an exhibition in Prague, but later arrived in Copenhagen where it was the property of Eduard R\u00e9e and was sold at his auction, 16 October 1918, lot 75.\n\">39<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The fact that this was even possible testifies to diligent effort and clear ambitions: given that in all three cases, the original painting had been shipped ahead to Copenhagen, Marstrand must have brought along tracings that could serve as the basis of any replicas he might have occasion to make.October Festival Evening Outside the Walls of Rome<\/em> was sold at Bruun Rasmussen&rsquo;s online auction 1124, 15 June 2011, lot 1020.\n\">40<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Germany remained a lucrative market for Marstrand, who would later also sell works in Frankfurt and Hamburg.41<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0When Lundbye visited an exhibition in the latter city in 1845, he was startled to come across \u2018a small painting by Marstrand: the singing Italian on the staircase; if this is the same one I saw in Copenhagen, it was more to my liking there than here, but I do not believe it is\u2019.Seks \u00e5r af et liv. Johan Thomas Lundbye &ndash; Dagb\u00f8ger om tro, sk\u00e6bne, kunst og k\u00e6rlighed<\/em>, Copenhagen 2018, p. 279.\n\">42<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand was adept at keeping the German market well supplied with repeats of his own subjects. But if the extended stay in Munich in 1840\u201341 was beneficial to Marstrand\u2019s European reputation, it also made him accustomed to leading a socially and financially rewarding life on the art scene, which in retrospect was the worst possible preparation for re-entry into the Copenhagen ditto.<\/p>\n

When Marstrand finally reached his native Denmark in November 1841, he returned to an art scene in a state of flux and change. During his absence, the national movement had really taken off, and in the visual arts this meant that patriotic depictions of the homeland were the new golden standard. Marstrand\u2019s letters clearly indicate that he \u2013 having become accustomed to more international, cosmopolitan settings \u2013 persisted in taking an ambivalent and sometimes overtly sceptical view of the national sentiments and their demands regarding the visual arts.43<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0As early as 1838, he had phrased the dictum he would often repeat, with small variations, ever since: \u2018The road they take back home is petty and wrong\u2019.44<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 23. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Portr\u00e6t af kunsthistorikeren, professor N.L. H\u00f8yen<\/em>. 1868. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 129 x 98 cm. Inv.nr. KMS870. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This road was personified by the critic N.L. H\u00f8yen, who argued that Danish artists should seek out distinctly Danish imagery, be it from peasant life, the countryside or ancient times. For Marstrand, this ran counter to his own interests and artistic ambitions, although he was able to sympathise with the politics of H\u00f8yen and his circle. Accordingly, Marstrand quite naturally slipped into the circle of the powerful critic, but continued to be a somewhat contrary fellow champion for the national cause. His distanced attitude became apparent when he was called upon, many years later, to paint a portrait in tribute of H\u00f8yen on the occasion of the latter\u2019s seventieth birthday, but rather surprisingly chose to present the national icon in the process of lecturing on Italian art rather than on contemporary Danish developments [fig. 23<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

The 1840s national movement in Danish arts was obviously unsatisfactory for Marstrand, prompting him to quite understandably seek for ways out. When, after his return home, he aspired to be admitted as a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, he had probably hoped to be given the task of painting a scene from southern climes as his admission piece. Instead, he was given the task of painting \u2018A Scene of Danish Folk Life\u2019, meaning a genre piece in the national spirit. But if the Academy Council had envisioned an idealised portrayal of healthy, proud peasantry, they would have been most disappointed. While the assignment specified a genre scene, Marstrand chose a literary motif, specifically a scene from Ludvig Holberg\u2019s comedy Erasmus Montanus<\/em>\u00a0[fig. 24<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 24. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Fra Ludvig Holbergs \u201dErasmus Montanus\u201d, III akt, 3. scene<\/em>. 1843. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 80 x 105,6 cm. Det Kongelige Akademi for de Sk\u00f8nne Kunster, Akademiraadet. Foto: Frida Gregersen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We see the big-headed protagonist disputing with the anything but ideal characters found in his rustic, rural hometown: his drunken father, the addle-minded parish clerk \u00a0and the cunning bailiff. It seems as if Marstrand sought to reapply the outlook he took on the common folk of Italy, seeing them as simultaneously admirable and comical, repurposing it for a Danish context. In the political climate of the 1840s, it most certainly took courage to subject the rural population of one\u2019s native country to such partial ridicule, but the reference to the great playwright added legitimacy to Marstrand\u2019s endeavour.Nivaagaard viser Marstrand<\/em>, Nivaagaards Malerisamling, Nivaa 1992, pp. 55-74.\n\">45<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Quite simply, his first Holberg subject saw him hitting upon a golden opportunity for meeting the requirements regarding a suitably national type of art while \u00a0also catering to his own penchant for satire and storytelling. The Erasmus Montanus<\/em> painting did indeed bring Marstrand his much-coveted seat on the Academy Council, and he would later go on to explore Holberg\u2019s world in countless paintings and drawings.Wilhelm Marstrand &ndash; The Great Storyteller<\/em>, 2020-21,&nbsp;Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Ribe Kunstmuseum, Skovgaard Museet og Nivaagaards Malerisamling.\n\">46<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Marstrand\u2019s refreshingly headstrong resistance to those favouring a national outlook did not arise out of his political opinions, but rather out of his adjustment to a cosmopolitan art scene and a more down-to-earth selection of subject matter. Although he did, after his first stay in Italy, remark that \u2018sending a Northerner down South is like putting a cod in freshwater\u2019, he nevertheless purposefully sought to leave Denmark behind again.47<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Having translated his fame into lucrative commissions for portraits, Marstrand once again set out for Italy in 1845; this time he stayed there for three years. And upon returning home, he resumed his efforts to find ways of evading the ever-growing demands concerning the national roots of Danish art.<\/p>\n

He did see eye to eye with the national camp on one point, which was that of common, pan-Scandinavian subject matter. During the First Schleswig War (also known as the Three Years\u2019 War), the well-known author Hans Christian Andersen found himself prevented from travelling south, which prompted him to discover Sweden as a destination instead. At the poet\u2019s recommendation, the newly married Marstrand\u00a0 and his young wife, Grethe, spent their honeymoon in Dalarne in 1851. Seeing Sweden like this gave rise to a marked change of direction for Marstrand, who had now found an opportunity to develop an empathetic outlook on the common people: without any distance, without ambiguity and with unprecedented naturalism. The result was initially an overwhelming amount of drawn studies \u2013 probably in the thousands \u2013 most of which show the same sincere interest in the people\u2019s way of life, homes, customs and outward appearances. In many ways the Swedish studies are a highlight of Marstrand\u2019s work, and the result, which was ready to be on public display at the exhibition in 1853, was equally much a major masterpiece in his production [fig. 25<\/strong>]. In contrast to virtually all of Marstrand\u2019s earlier depictions of life, he chose here to eschew anecdote and suppress any urge to caricature or beautify. Instead, he has chosen a panoramic scene and gone on to orchestrate the crowd with a tautness of composition more reminiscent of a battle scene than of a rural population assembling on a perfectly ordinary Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 25.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Kirkef\u00e6rd i Dalarne i Sverige. Til Leksands sognekirke i Dalarne kommer folket i deres store kirkeb\u00e5de over Siljans\u00f8en om s\u00f8ndagen til gudstjeneste<\/em>. 1853. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 130,5 x 215 cm. Inv.nr. KMS618. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Return to history painting<\/h2>\n

During his second sojourn in Italy, Marstrand began to practice composing paintings on a more monumental scale. Working on his admission piece of Erasmus Montanus<\/em> had obviously taught him to play to his strengths and to approach the task of history painting as if it were simply a scaled-up genre painting. In Rome, therefore, he devoted himself to portrayals of folk scenes in similar formats \u2013 or even larger. The main result of this endeavour was a genre painting of unusual scale and employing unusual devices: Italian Osteria Scene<\/em> from 1846\u201347 [fig. 26<\/strong>]. The subject is as simple as it was unfamiliar at the time: two young Italian women who, upon seeing their chaperone\u2019s attention slipping, seize the opportunity to directly address the viewer, who is cast as the person entering the inn. The subject and its effect were both carefully calculated, and the painting gained immense popularity when it was exhibited back home in Denmark. Perhaps more than any other single work, it helped to secure Marstrand\u2019s fame in his own day, even though its subject matter was not in line with the expectations of those with a more national outlook. Writing home from Rome, he was anything but hopeful: \u2018My paintings from here are no longer being bought, now that the people are so firmly required to wear Danish clothes\u2019.48<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 26. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Italiensk osteriscene. Pige, der byder den indtr\u00e6dende velkommen<\/em>. 1847. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 123 x 165 cm. Inv.nr. MIN 0918. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Foto: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, K\u00f8benhavn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tremendous popular appeal of the Osteria scene notwithstanding, it would appear that the painting was intended as a deliberate preparation for the major commissions Marstrand believed to have in store for him. At this point, history painting was as yet almost entirely unknown territory to him, and when he toyed with the idea of decorating the Ceremonial Hall of the University of Copenhagen in 1846, he clearly felt the need to justify his sudden ambition. He allowed himself to entertain such ideas:<\/p>\n

even though it might be more appropriate for my talent to attend to the humorous aspects of public life rather than to the higher strata of the historical; at any rate everyone is asking why I do not continue in the vein that they say I have proven myself so peculiarly well suited to and leave the rest to others, but my reasons have been partly the prospect of being able to get a considerable commission for public work in my home country and thus have something that would call me home in earnest, and partly I did not think that the more serious subjects are quite so far out of my grasp, and also I knew of no-one back home who could give such images a lively and picturesque quality in addition to the stricter architectural form; whether I can do so will now be the question.49<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Approximately one year after his return to Denmark, Marstrand\u2019s efforts began to pay off. In the autumn of 1848, a professorship became vacant at the academy\u2019s model school, traditionally a position taken by history painters.50<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand immediately sent an application, as did his friends and fellow artists J\u00f8rgen Roed and Niels Simonsen (1807\u201385). The decision was in the hands of the Academy Council, which included Eckersberg, J.L. Lund, N.L. H\u00f8yen and H.W. Bissen. In their statement to the press, they announced that Marstrand was elected unanimously, although Simonsen had in fact obtained a single vote. It would appear disagreement among the power elite of art was not considered good form, not even in the birth year of Danish democracy.<\/p>\n

In the past, the Academy\u2019s professors of painting had generally been history painters, partly in order to ensure a steady supply of history paintings to the reigning king, but that particularly function seems to have been considered secondary when making this appointment. As a professor, Marstrand succeeded the recently deceased Martinus R\u00f8rbye, who had also not followed the usual career path of academy professors, which tended to favour gold medals and a firm dedication to history painting. Also, with Danish democracy having just been instated, there were good reasons to expect a decline in demand for decorations for castles and churches. Only very few altarpieces were commissioned, although in fact this was an area where Marstrand truly shone. A huge altarpiece for Faaborg Church, representing the Supper at Emmaus, is composed with striking light effects, the disciples\u2019 dark profiles set against the smouldering evening landscape, while the profile of Christ is illuminated by a shining halo against the dark back wall. The effect is both theatrical and decorative, and had the commissions for such works been more plentiful, Marstrand might have become one of the most enduring church artists of his generation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 27.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Det betroede pund<\/em>. Ca. 1870. Olie p\u00e5 papir p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 74 x 124 cm. Inv.nr. MIN 1757. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Foto: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, K\u00f8benhavn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly, Marstrand was not assigned many secular commissions for public artwork, and some of the most important tasks that did fall to Marstrand remained unfinished. In the Ceremonial Hall of the university he only managed to paint one of three planned picture fields, and a projected decoration for the National Bank of Denmark never got beyond the promising sketch stage [fig. 27<\/strong>]. However, Marstrand did complete one commission of this kind \u2013 and did it so successfully that it has since shaped generations of Danes\u2019 perception of history. The work in question is Marstrand\u2019s contribution to Christian IV\u2019s chapel in Roskilde Cathedral, where he partly portrayed the king\u2019s shrewd interference in a trial, and partly how, during the Battle of Colberger Heide, he was hit in the eye by shrapnel [a sketch depicted in fig. 28<\/strong>]. The latter image, which Marstrand painted directly onto the wall in oil paints, is undoubtedly his most iconic and recognisable work, the subject of endless reproductions.<\/p>\n

Marstrand\u2019s official career culminated when he was appointed Director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1853, a position he held until 1857 and again from 1863 until his death. As a professor as well as a director, he had the opportunity to be an internationally oriented voice in the art world, yet he never truly became the innovator of the academic system he once aspired to be. In 1854, Constantin Hansen blamed his friend for travelling to Italy at a time when there was certainly enough to do back home for the newly-appointed Academy Director \u2013 and, what is more, a time when the Academy\u2019s centennial attracted tremendous attention to the question of the course set for the institution. Apparently, the youthful urge for rebellion could not offset Marstrand\u2019s tendency toward pessimism and disillusionment, traits that were only reinforced by his academic positions.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 28.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Christian IV om bord p\u00e5 \u201dTrefoldigheden\u201d under slaget i Kielerbugten 1. juli 1644<\/em>. Ca. 1863. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 115 x 162 cm. Inv.nr. MIN 1818. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Foto: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, K\u00f8benhavn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The anti-hero enters the stage<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 29. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Don Quixote<\/em>. Efter 1860. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 47,5 x 34 cm. Inv.nr. 0117NMK. Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marstrand\u2019s first Holberg scenes in the 1840s ushered in an extensive and long-standing exploration of literary subjects. Not since Abildgaard had a Danish painter drawn on a similarly wide body of reading. Marstrand was personally acquainted with several writers of the day, such as Hans Christian Andersen, H.P. Holst and J.L. Heiberg, but even so the writers of the previous centuries appealed most directly to his imagination. Strikingly, he particularly chose the anti-heroes of literature as subject matter \u2013 especially tragicomic characters who fool only themselves. During his second trip to Italy in the mid-1840s, he painted his first scenes featuring the character of Don Quixote. In the 1850s, the character would become a recurring guest in a wealth of drawings and paintings [fig. 29<\/strong>].51<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In art history literature, the Don Quixote scenes have been interpreted as an autobiographical metaphor for Marstrand\u2019s own position and self-image: the misanthropic professor supposedly saw himself reflected in the broken dreamer whose flighty imaginary world must inevitably be crushed by a reality that reduces him to a tragic figure.52<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0While such an interpretation may seem somewhat speculative, it would not be unprecedented in the art of the time; one can find autobiographical elements in the use of literary motifs in many of Marstrand\u2019s fellow artists, not least Eckersberg.C.W. Eckersberg. V\u00e6rker fra Kunstmuseet Brundlund Slot<\/em>, Aabenraa 2017, p. 44.\n\">53<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0And Marstrand had himself demonstrated similar tendencies in 1842 when, having suffered a broken-off engagement and having his dreams of family life dashed, he began to paint and draw a wealth of lovers and proposal scenes.54<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Indeed, his exploration of the absurdities of the Don Quixote character also took place entirely parallel to his own ever-more pessimistic view of the Danish art scene and his own abilities.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 30. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Scene fra Macbeth<\/em>. Olie p\u00e5 tr\u00e6. 33 x 26 cm. Inv.nr. RKMm0134. Ribe Kunstmuseum. Foto: Ribe Kunstmuseum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, Holberg\u2019s comedies and Don Quixote<\/em> were not the only literary works that would get Marstrand\u2019s famous stream of images flowing. In the 1860s, Shakespeare also entered his repertoire, even though by this point the Bard had supplied very little subject matter for Danish paintings since the days of Abildgaard [fig. 30]. But unlike his friend Adam M\u00fcller, who was one of the very few Danes to address Shakespearean themes, depicting a scene with Lady Macbeth in 1831, Marstrand would rarely let sombrely dramatic episodes find their way to his canvases. Instead, he sought out the more comedic characters of the plays \u2013 above all the blustering and corpulent John Falstaff, whom we find depicted in several of Marstrand\u2019s drawings. With just a few exceptions, the literature of the seventeenth century never became fertile ground for Marstrand, who preferred to look to writers of the eighteenth century instead, finding far more subjects in not only Holberg but also Charlotte Dorothea Biehl (1731\u20131888), Carl Micha\u00ebl Bellmann (1740\u201395), Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749\u20131832) and their contemporaries.<\/p>\n

Marstrand also looked to the eighteenth century when his urge to self-reflection became a definite theme from the mid-1860s onwards. Instead of literary subjects, Marstrand now portrayed scenes from the authors\u2019 own lives, particularly comic moments with Holberg at the centre and more tragic episodes with Johannes Ewald (1743\u201381) and Johan Herman Wessel (1742\u201385) as protagonists.55<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0This sudden interest in the life of the actual authors coincided with the fact that Marstrand now found himself hailed as a genius, which would hardly have sat well with own self-image, beset with doubts. In 1865 the art historian Julius Lange (1838\u201396) \u2013 who represented the discipline of art history, still in its infancy, which helped identify the specificities of Danish culture after Denmark\u2019s defeat in 1864 \u2013 called Marstrand a comic genius on a par with none other than Holberg and Wessel. In the eyes of Lange, Marstrand was \u2018without doubt the richest and greatest talent that has yet come to maturity within Danish painting\u2019.56<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Marstrand\u2019s depictions of the authors\u2019 lives as well as his enduring fascination with anti-heroes such as Don Quixote, Peder Paars, Erasmus Montanus and John Falstaff may be seen as a somewhat ambivalent response to the unexpected reverence of his supposed genius and his growing doubts about the artist\u2019s role in society.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 31.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand: Moccoli-aftenen p\u00e5 Corsoen i Rom<\/em>. Ca. 1848. Olie, pen og bl\u00e6k p\u00e5 papir. 44,5 x 55 cm. Inv.nr. 115 WH. Ordrupgaard. Foto: Anders Sune Berg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marstrand\u2019s late painting<\/h2>\n

As a painter, Marstrand can hardly be called a great technician, and he seems, on the whole, astonishingly inconsistent in his exploration of oil paints. Only in his late work, and only in glimpses does one find fairly persistent efforts at innovation in terms of his palette and use of colour. The first intimations of this painterly phase came during his second stay in Italy with the brightly sparkling Moccoli<\/em> scene depicting the festival of light that marked the end of the Roman carnival. Marstrand sold the finished work in Germany, so today we only know it through an oil sketch [fig. 31<\/strong>]. Simultaneously cheerful and highly evocative, the scene features intensely smouldering colours that had not previously appeared in his work. He did not try to repeat the experiment anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 32.<\/strong> Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Adam og den nyskabte Eva<\/em>. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 87 x 95 cm. Inv.nr. 316. Den Hirschsprungske Samling. Foto: \u00a9 Den Hirschsprungske Samling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not until the second half of the 1850s did Marstrand begin to develop his palette in a direction never seen before in a Danish context. While H\u00f8yen regarded the painters\u2019 ability to painstakingly hide their brush strokes as their most important quality, Marstrand now tried his hand at painting with wider strokes and with such arbitrariness that the colours would sometimes become muddled on the canvas [fig. 32<\/strong>]. He seems to have initially been particularly drawn to Venetian role models whom he had studied during his trip to Venice in 1854.Perspective Journal<\/em>, September 2020,&nbsp;https:\/\/perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/italy-love-denmark-wilhelm-marstrand-and-pc-skovgaard-venice-1850s<\/a>\n\">57<\/a><\/sup> An obvious example is the Parable of the Talents<\/em> [fig. 27<\/strong>], its airiness and colour scheme as well as its open space and the tactility of the textiles clearly reminiscent of Paolo Veronese (1528\u201388). The typically Venetian horizontal composition also provided ample space for auxiliary figures and objects, which, very much in the spirit of Marstrand, added an element of genre painting to the history painting. Later, Marstrand also became aware of contemporary French painting, and at the International Exhibition in London in 1862 he was probably one of the only Danish artists of the time to particularly admire the landscapes created by one of his peers, the French artist Th\u00e9odore Rousseau (1812\u201367).58<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Marstrand\u2019s late paintings did not always meet with universal appreciation, particularly because the results of his experiments could be somewhat uneven and random. After his death, one critic noted that \u2018Marstrand has sometimes, and perhaps rightly so, been criticised for adopting, in his later years, a mode of treatment so broad and slapdash that it bordered on mannerism\u2019.Aarhuus Stifts-Tidende<\/em>, 9 April 1873.\n\">59<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 33. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand: Ligvognstoget. Snefald, vinterdag ved Holmens Kirke<\/em>. Ca. 1870. Olie p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 43,6 x 62,8 cm. Inv.nr. Maleri 126. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum. Foto: Ole Hein Pedersen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet even though his late paintings might sometimes seem somewhat awkward in their representation of form and rather blurred in terms of colour, they arise out of a deliberate pursuit of painterly freedom. Even a subject like a hearse in the street could, ironically, be depicted by means of lively and energetic strokes [fig. 33<\/strong>].<\/p>\n

While the art collectors and art historians of posterity would be attracted by Marstrand\u2019s wealth of ideas and ability to vary a given subject almost indefinitely, the painterly breadth of his late work tended to be the main appeal in artist circles. The generations of painters who had the French school of painting as their ultimate ideal saw the aging Marstrand as a Danish counterpart to Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix (1793\u20131863). P.S. Kr\u00f8yer, who laid down the foundation of his art collection at the age of 22 by purchasing pieces at the auctions of Marstrand\u2019s estate, was a good example of the artists\u2019 continued reverence for their great role model.60<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Later, Kr\u00f8yer would also acquire Marstrand\u2019s late oil of Adam and Eve,<\/em> giving it a prominent position in his studio [fig. 34-35<\/strong>].61<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0One might easily form the idea that the downcast eyes of one of these figures and the raised arm of the other figure, extending up into the foliage above, served as inspiration for the work occupying Kr\u00f8yer\u2019s own easel at the time, the now-famous Hip! Hip! Hurrah!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fig. 34. <\/strong>Wilhelm Marstrand:\u00a0Eva frister Adam<\/em>. Olie p\u00e5 pap opsat p\u00e5 l\u00e6rred. 91 x 67 cm. Inv.nr. KMS3172. Statens Museum for Kunst. Foto: Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Fig. 35. <\/strong>P.S. Kr\u00f8yers atelier. Fotografi af Carl Curman fra 1888. Carl Curmans Samling, Riksantikvarie-\u00e4mbetet, Stockholm. Foto: Carl Curmann.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Marstrand Cult<\/h2>\n

Overall, Marstrand was the object of adulation and idolatry on a scale that may be difficult to properly understand for present-day observers. For example, the first of the annual Charlottenborg salons held after Marstrand\u2019s death featured a memorial presentation of some of his paintings, surrounded by black crape and symbolically flanked by Carl Bloch\u2019s The Entombment of Christ <\/em>and The Resurrection<\/em>.Aarhuus Stifts-Tidende<\/em>, 9 April 1873.\n\">62<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0As was mentioned above, the Marstrand cult lasted until around the time of World War I, after which his popularity waned rapidly. Modernist expressive force supplanted a joy in storytelling and imagination as an artistic ideal, and the sheer volume of Marstrand\u2019s flow of images was no longer enough to impress. A new generation of artists, collectors and critics saw only his technical imperfections and tendency towards anecdote. His portrayal of people was interpreted as merely superficial, and his sense of humour was misunderstood as distinctly unsympathetic and brutal. The latter was perhaps only to be expected. Time hardly ever works in favour of the humour of a given period; it rarely ages well. It is no wonder, then, that Marstrand\u2019s brand of humour became outdated and may fall flat in the eyes of present-day audiences. In fact, the truly surprising thing is that his humour proved so viable that it could still be enjoyed, found amusing and elicit enthusiastic praise half a century later.<\/p>\n

Marstrand’s reputation as a humourist ultimately proved a stumbling block for the proper understanding his other endeavours, and he has rarely \u2013 and only with great difficulty \u2013 been subjected to sober observation stripped of either idolatry or condemnation. Marstrand\u2019s incessant stream of images and his almost infinitely vast production quite simply make it difficult to clearly identify his distinctive character. But as the previous pages have shown, his work is infused by efforts to circumvent the many expectations and demands he met: whether the academic demands for serious storytelling encountered as a student, the 1840s and their somewhat inflexible notions about what genuinely national Danish art should look like, or the pressure to be a figure of innovation during his years as a professor. Marstrand\u2019s response to all these external expectations was to seek other avenues, for example by using humour as a means to serious ends, by cultivating unfamiliar literary motifs from tales of anti-heroes, or by pursuing freer techniques of painting. All this regardless of the ever-present risk of failure. Yet above all else, the pervasive theme of Marstrand\u2019s work is a striving to portray human traits in the simplest form possible and an ability to speak into the general public\u2019s thirst for narratives. Having been banished for decades now, the tide appears to be turning for Marstrand\u2019s narrative paintings. One senses a renewed interest in the genre painting of the time, which is once again appreciated for its mischievous joy in storytelling, for its depictions of human life and, in Marstrand\u2019s case, for its ironic but well-meaning observations on man as a social being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Henrik Bramsen: Kunst i enev\u00e6ldens sidste hundrede \u00e5r<\/em>, Copenhagen 1990<\/p>\n

Charlotte Christensen: Guldalderens billedverden<\/em>, Copenhagen 2019<\/p>\n

Karina Lykke Grand: \u2019Det nye blik\u2019 in: Guld. Skatte fra den danske guldalder<\/em>, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus 2013, pp. 168-197<\/p>\n

Bent Holm: \u2019Omkring Marstrands Holberg\u2019 in: Nivaagaard viser Marstrand<\/em>, Nivaagaards Malerisamling, Nivaa 1992, pp. 55-74<\/p>\n

Anton Jepsen: Det kongelige M\u00f8belmagasin og k\u00f8benhavnersnedkerne. Danske m\u00f8bler efter 1777<\/em>, s.l. 1991<\/p>\n

Ejner Johansson: De danske malere i M\u00fcnchen. Et ukendt kapitel i dansk guldalderkunst<\/em>, K\u00f8benhavn 1997<\/p>\n

Julius Lange: \u2019Nyere dansk Genremaleri\u2019 in: Dansk Maanedsskrift<\/em>, 1865, II (reissued in Billedkunst<\/em>, Copenhagen 1873, pp. 119-259)<\/p>\n

Lars Olof Larsson: \u2019Diogenes in der Lavendelstr\u00e6de. Kommentare zu einem Gem\u00e4lde von Martinus R\u00f8rbye\u2019 in: Annegret Heitmann and Karin Hoff (eds.): \u00c4sthetik der skandinavischen Moderne. Bernhard Glienke zum Gedenken<\/em>, Frankfurt am Main 1998, pp. 281-287<\/p>\n

Karl Madsen: Wilhelm Marstrand<\/em>, Copenhagen 1905<\/p>\n

Karl Madsen: \u2019Tilv\u00e6ksten i Museets repr\u00e6sentation for Marstrand\u2019 in: Kunstmuseets Aarsskrift<\/em>, IV, 1917, p. 1-28<\/p>\n

Otto Marstrand: Maleren Wilhelm Marstrand<\/em>, Copenhagen 2003<\/p>\n

Giannantonio Moschini: Dell\u2019 Incisione in Venezia<\/em>, Venice 1924<\/p>\n

Nivaagaard viser Marstrand<\/em>, Nivaagaards Malerisamling, Nivaa 1992<\/p>\n

Niels J\u00f8rgen Poulsen: \u2019Udsigt fra G\u00e5set\u00e5rnet 1823. Om C.W. Eckersbergs og Jacob Marstrands panorama\u2019 in: Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark<\/em> 1987, pp. 63-74<\/p>\n

Michael Kiaer Raffenberg (ed.): Vilhelm Marstrand. Breve og Uddrag af Breve fra denne Kunstner<\/em>, Copenhagen 1880<\/p>\n

Lene B\u00f8gh R\u00f8nberg: \u2019Borgerligt hjemmeliv i de to guldaldre \u2013 P\u00e5virkninger og sammenh\u00e6nge\u2019 in: I lyset af Holland<\/em>, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 2001, pp. 74-141<\/p>\n

James Byam Shaw: The Drawings of Domenico Tiepolo<\/em>, London 1962<\/p>\n

Jesper Svenningsen: C.W. Eckersberg. V\u00e6rker fra Kunstmuseet Brundlund Slot<\/em>, Aabenraa 2017<\/p>\n

Jesper Svenningsen (ed.): Seks \u00e5r af et liv. Johan Thomas Lundbye — Dagb\u00f8ger om tro, sk\u00e6bne, kunst og k\u00e6rlighed<\/em>, Copenhagen 2018<\/p>\n

Jesper Svenningsen: \u2018Fra indforst\u00e5et vid til platte vittigheder. Humor i 1820\u2019ernes og 30\u2019ernes malerkunst\u2019 in: Dansk Guldalder. Verdenskunst mellem to katastrofer<\/em>, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 2019, pp. 249-265<\/p>\n

Peter Swaab: \u2018\u201dSome Think Him \u2026 Queer\u201d. Loners and Love in Edward Lear\u2019 in: Edward Lear and the Play of Poetry<\/em>, James Williams and Matthew Bevis (eds.), Oxford 2016, pp. 89-114<\/p>\n

Gitte Valentiner: Wilhelm Marstrand. Scenebilleder<\/em>, Copenhagen 1992<\/p>\n

Jenny Uglow: Mr. Lear. A Life of Art and Nonsense<\/em>, London 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is part of a series of articles about the Danish painter Wilhelm Marstrand (1810\u201373) published on the occasion of the exhibition Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 The Great Storyteller, 2020-21 at Fuglsang Art Museum, The Nivaagaard Collection, Ribe Art Museum and The Skovgaard Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[71,38,37],"class_list":["post-3357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-danish-golden-age","tag-wilhelm-marstrand","tag-wilhelm-marstrand-the-great-storyteller"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article is part of a series of articles about the Danish painter Wilhelm Marstrand (1810\u201373) published on the occasion of the exhibition Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 The Great Storyteller, 2020-21 at Fuglsang Art Museum, The Nivaagaard Collection, Ribe Art Museum and The Skovgaard Museum.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Perspective\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alexander@koal.dk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alexander@koal.dk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"85 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"alexander@koal.dk\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4\"},\"headline\":\"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\"},\"wordCount\":14956,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Danish Golden Age\",\"Wilhelm Marstrand\",\"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 The Great Storyteller\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\",\"name\":\"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1900},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Perspective\",\"description\":\"Perspective Journal\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4\",\"name\":\"alexander@koal.dk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"alexander@koal.dk\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/author\/alexanderkoal-dk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective","og_description":"This article is part of a series of articles about the Danish painter Wilhelm Marstrand (1810\u201373) published on the occasion of the exhibition Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 The Great Storyteller, 2020-21 at Fuglsang Art Museum, The Nivaagaard Collection, Ribe Art Museum and The Skovgaard Museum.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/","og_site_name":"Perspective","article_published_time":"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1900,"url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"alexander@koal.dk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"alexander@koal.dk","Est. reading time":"85 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/"},"author":{"name":"alexander@koal.dk","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4"},"headline":"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images","datePublished":"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/"},"wordCount":14956,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg","keywords":["Danish Golden Age","Wilhelm Marstrand","Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 The Great Storyteller"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/","url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/","name":"Wilhelm Marstrand \u2013 A cosmopolitan artist caught in a vortex of images - Perspective","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-01T10:04:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-16T13:23:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wilhelm-marstrand-a-cosmopolitan-artist-caught-in-a-vortex-of-images\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fig._22_kks7236_cut.jpg","width":1920,"height":1900},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/","name":"Perspective","description":"Perspective Journal","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/20b599c4427a55805ac9e5d46374e1b4","name":"alexander@koal.dk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c22e48c255d60b98fd6fc7807f5b3f8d25b15c91b4667c847d3301e28b5ddfa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"alexander@koal.dk"},"url":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/author\/alexanderkoal-dk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3357"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4604,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions\/4604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perspectivejournal.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}