Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 153. Vilhelm Peter Carl Petersen Copenhagen 1812 – 1880 Copenhagen View from the Artist’s Window, 1850 Vilhelm Petersen’s reputation as an artist has only recently been re-established, thanks in large part to his plein air landscape studies. He joined the Academy in Copenhagen in 1831, where he trained under Eckersberg and Lund. After receiving a travel bursary, he toured through the Netherlands, Germany, the Tyrol and Italy between 1850-52. An inscription on the back of this study identifies it as a view from the artist’s window in Merano, and dates it to 15 October 1850. A prolific draughtsman, Petersen filled a number of sketchbooks with hundreds of drawings during this journey, many of which he inscribed with a location and date. Among these, there are two other views from his window in Merano, dated 8 and 22 of October. Petersen must have enjoyed his time in this Alpine village in South Tyrol, as he stayed there for a couple of months. This delicate picture was likely painted as a souvenir. The top-left corner is left unfinished, revealing a pencil sketch beneath the prepared ground of the paper.
Vilhelm Petersen’s reputation as an artist has only recently been re-established, thanks in large part to his plein air landscape studies. He joined the Academy in Copenhagen in 1831, where he trained under Eckersberg and Lund. After receiving a travel bursary, he toured through the Netherlands, Germany, the Tyrol and Italy between 1850-52. An inscription on the back of this study identifies it as a view from the artist’s window in Merano, and dates it to 15 October 1850. A prolific draughtsman, Petersen filled a number of sketchbooks with hundreds of drawings during this journey, many of which he inscribed with a location and date. Among these, there are two other views from his window in Merano, dated 8 and 22 of October. Petersen must have enjoyed his time in this Alpine village in South Tyrol, as he stayed there for a couple of months. This delicate picture was likely painted as a souvenir. The top-left corner is left unfinished, revealing a pencil sketch beneath the prepared ground of the paper.