Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 134. Frederik Rohde Copenhagen 1816 – 1886 Copenhagen Rooftops Rohde trained at the Academy in Copenhagen between 1830-34, where he was a student of J.L. Lund (1777–1867) and also sought guidance from Christen Købke (1810–1848). After receiving a bursary from the Academy, he travelled to Germany, Switzerland, the Tyrol and Italy between 1842-47. He spent the majority of these years abroad in Munich, and was greatly influenced by the naturalism of the local landscape school. While Rohde had a predilection for winter scenes in his exhibition pictures, this view over rooftops was probably painted at the end of a summer’s day. Looking out from a window, the artist had time to carefully render the brickwork and red roof tiles. The scene he captures, however, has the immediacy of a fleeting moment. The reflection of the sun flickers on the chimneys and we catch a glimpse of a church tower in the distance, only visible thanks to the fairly strong wind blowing through the poplar trees. There are no inscriptions to help us date or identify this motif, but the type of tower depicted is not common in Denmark. Rohde probably recorded this view on his travels abroad, possibly in Munich.
Rohde trained at the Academy in Copenhagen between 1830-34, where he was a student of J.L. Lund (1777–1867) and also sought guidance from Christen Købke (1810–1848). After receiving a bursary from the Academy, he travelled to Germany, Switzerland, the Tyrol and Italy between 1842-47. He spent the majority of these years abroad in Munich, and was greatly influenced by the naturalism of the local landscape school. While Rohde had a predilection for winter scenes in his exhibition pictures, this view over rooftops was probably painted at the end of a summer’s day. Looking out from a window, the artist had time to carefully render the brickwork and red roof tiles. The scene he captures, however, has the immediacy of a fleeting moment. The reflection of the sun flickers on the chimneys and we catch a glimpse of a church tower in the distance, only visible thanks to the fairly strong wind blowing through the poplar trees. There are no inscriptions to help us date or identify this motif, but the type of tower depicted is not common in Denmark. Rohde probably recorded this view on his travels abroad, possibly in Munich.