Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, “Ulysses Fleeing the Cave of Polyphemus”, 1812, Oil on Canvas, 81 × 64 cm, Princeton University Art Museum
Christoffer Eckersberg’s biggest contribution to painting was through his professorship at the Danish Royal Academy of Art. He revitalized teaching by taking students out into the field, where they were challenged to do studies from nature. In this way it was he who introduced direct study from nature into Danish art. He also encouraged his students to develop their individual strengths, thus creating unique styles.
He developed an increasing interest in perspective on account of his marine paintings. He wrote a dissertation on the subject called “Linear perspective used in the art of painting” in 1841, and taught classes on the subject at the Academy. He made a small number of etchings that combine daily life observations with classical, harmonious principles of composition. This led the way to the characteristic manner in which Golden Age painters portrayed the common, everyday life.
One of a series of paintings and drawings Eckersberg made to illustrate episodes from Homer’s Odyssey, “Ulysses Fleeing the Cave of Polyphemus”, although a student work, demonstrates the artist’s talents for perspective, acute observation of nature, and nuanced treatment of light. It was painted in Paris, where his training in Copenhagen was supplemented by study with the leading French painter, Jacques-Louis David, whose life-drawing classes were the focus of his teaching. In French history painting, the body was the vehicle used to convey morally instructive tales from Greco-Roman antiquity and Christian sources, and here the young artist displays his mastery. After his stay in Paris, Eckersberg spent three years in Rome before returning to Copenhagen, where he taught the next generation of artists and became known as the Father of Danish Painting.
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