His Early Life

Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873) was a Danish painter and illustrator. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Marstrand’s father, Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, was an instrument maker and inventor. Marstrand is one of the most renowned artists belonging to the Golden Age of Danish Paintings. Marstrand studied at Copenhagen Metropolitan School, but as he had little interest in books and his studies, he left the school when he was fourteen years of age. It was then that C W Eckersberg who was a close friend of his father recommended a career in arts for Marstrand. Noticing his early talent, one of his father’s friends, C W Eckersberg, who was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, enrolled him in the Academy when he was barely sixteen years of age. He attended the school during the period from 1826 to 1833 and studied under the tutelage of C W Eckerberg.

Found an Early Patron

Experts believe that Marstrand was a dazzling portrayer of the human psyche. He was the master at the depiction of figures in motion. Another friend of his father’s, Christian Waagepetersen, a wealthy wine merchant, became his patron and commissioned Marstrand and his co-student, Wilhelm Bendz, for three paintings ‘A Musical Soiree in the House of the Merchant Waagepetersen’ in 1834, ‘The Waagepetersen Family’ in1836 and ‘Romans Gathered for Merriment at an Osteria’ 1839. Unluckily, Marstrand’s early and wealthy patron, Waagepetersen, who was a source of his and his co-student, Wilhelm Bendz’s prominent painting prospects, died in 1840. However, this period proved to be a turning point in his painting career and his painting ‘A Musical Evening Party’ which depicted an occasion at the home of Waagepetersen became an important transition painting.

His Unsuccessful efforts at Gold Medal

Marstrand’s paintings were gaining popularity gradually and unmistakably. Despite the rising fame and popularity of his artworks, his attempts at Academy’s gold medal failed both in 1833 and in 1835. His paintings ‘Flight to Egypt‘ and ‘Odysseus and Nausikaa‘ were the two well-known works that he had staked at the Academy in these two years in his efforts at a gold medal. The intensity of his disappointment over the failure became more severe considering that he had won both available silver dedals in 1833. Marstrand hoped that a gold medal would come with a travel stipend that would enable him to travel abroad in quest of excellence in his art. As though not to disappoint Marstrand, the Academy awarded him a travel stipend and he promptly began the first of his many travels in 1836.

His Foreign Travel

Marstrand’s famous paintings include ‘Moving Day’, ‘A Prison Scene in Rome, ‘Italian Osteria Scene, Girl welcoming a Person Entering’, ‘October Festival Evening outside the Walls of Rome’, ‘Portrait of Otto Mastrand’s Two Daughters and Their Nanny’, ‘Roman Woman with a Child’, ‘