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CHRISTIAN AUGUST LORENTZENArchitect with his Drawings - 18th Century Portrait Oil on Canvas1798
1798
$8,041.25
£6,112.70
€6,800
CA$11,300.78
A$12,287.99
CHF 6,474.57
MX$149,263.37
NOK 81,398.40
SEK 76,304.43
DKK 52,048.63
About the Item
Portrait of an Architect at His Desk, 1798
Oil on canvas, relined. Signed “C A Lorentzen 1798.”
The composition depicts an architect seated at his desk, surrounded by drawings and pair of compasses. Under his arm he holds a portfolio of architectural plans. The sitter is believed to be the important Danish architect Christian Frederik Hansen (1756–1845), later Director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1811–1818. He succeeded Lorentzen in 1811 who held the directorship between 1809–1810. Lorentzen was appointed Professor at the Academy in 1803.
Christian August Lorentzen was born in 1749 in Sønderborg on the island of Als, Denmark. He arrived in Copenhagen around 1771, attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and studied painting independently, though without receiving its formal medals.
Between 1779 and 1782, Lorentzen travelled abroad to the Netherlands, Antwerp, and Paris, where he studied figure painting and copied works by Old Masters. After returning to Denmark, he was admitted as a member of the Academy in 1784. He quickly established himself, alongside Jens Juel (1745-1802), as one of Copenhagen’s most sought after portrait painters.
Lorentzen’s training and career diverged from the academic norm; as an artist and later a professor, he pursued new directions in Danish art and is regarded as a precursor of the national school. His historical and landscape painting paved the way for the patriotic and naturalistic tendencies of early 19th-century Danish painting.
In addition to portraiture, Lorentzen produced Norwegian landscape views, engraved by Georg Haas and sold in both monochrome and handcolored versions. He also painted large historical subjects such as The Siege of Wismar, Christian IV at the Battle of Femern, and The Battle of Copenhagen.
Lorentzen also pioneered genre painting in Denmark, depicting scenes from everyday life.
A major commission came from the merchant and later editor M.L. Nathanson, who asked Lorentzen to illustrate Ludvig Holberg’s comedies. Lorentzen painted thirty small scenes, two of which were later completed by C.W. Eckersberg. These paintings, now in the Royal Danish Collection, remain an important record of early Danish genre art.
From 1825 to 1827, Lorentzen contributed four large landscapes to Christiansborg Palace.
Lorentzen was appointed Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1803 and served as Director from 1809 to 1810, succeeding Nicolai Abildgaard. He remained unmarried and lived at Charlottenborg Palace, the Academy’s headquarters, until his death on 8 May 1828.
Among Lorentzen’s pupils were several who later became central figures in the Danish Golden Age:
Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857)
Samuel Mygind (1777–1810)
Christian David Gebauer (1777–1831)
Christen Købke (1810–1848)
Ernst Meyer (1797–1861)
Martinus Rørbye (1803–1848)
His early students, such as Dahl and Gebauer, retained visible traces of his influence, while the later generation—Købke, Meyer, and Rørbye—moved beyond it but continued to build upon the academic foundation he helped establish.
Museum Representation
Lorentzen’s works are represented in:
The National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), Copenhagen
The Royal Collection of Paintings, Copenhagen
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo (Sarpsfossen, 1795)
Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle
The Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen
Architect Christian Frederik Hansen (1756–1845)
Christian Frederik Hansen was one of Denmark’s foremost neoclassical architects and a central figure in shaping Copenhagen’s early 19th-century cityscape. Born in Copenhagen in 1756, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where he won all major medals. After serving as Royal Building Inspector in Altona and Holstein (1784–1798), he returned to Copenhagen as Royal Architect and later Director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (1811–1818).
Hansen’s major works include the Copenhagen City Hall and Courthouse (1803–1816), the Church of Our Lady (Vor Frue Kirke, 1811–1829), and the reconstruction of Christiansborg Palace. His austere, classical style defined Danish architecture in the early 19th century and earned him the epithet “the Father of Danish Neoclassicism.”
- Creator:CHRISTIAN AUGUST LORENTZEN (1749 - 1828, Danish)
- Creation Year:1798
- Dimensions:Height: 37.01 in (94 cm)Width: 30.71 in (78 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:1790-1799
- Condition:It is in good condition. It has been relined and restored at some time during the 20th century.
- Gallery Location:Stockholm, SE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2608217123892
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