Herman Carl Siegumfeldt (18 September 1833 - 27 June 1912) was a Danish genre and landscape painter. [1][2]

Herman Siegumfeldt (1860s/70s)
A Courting Couple (1861)

Biography

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Siegumfeldt was born at Haregabsgaarden in the parish of Esbønderup in North Zealand, Denmark. He was the son of Heinrich Anton Siegumfeldt, a farmer, and Maren Cathrine Schou.[3]

At the age of eleven, he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Later, he studied with Niels Simonsen while taking practical courses in handicrafts.[4] He won a small silver medal at the age of seventeen, but his financial situation was precarious, so he had to devote himself to crafts rather than continue his art studies.[5][6]

By the winter of 1854-55, he had saved enough to give all his time to painting and was able to make a sale to the Kunstforeningen. The following year, they acquired several more works. His simple, naturally composed works soon attracted a large audience. From 1857 to 1860, he concentrated on painting landscapes.[4]

Before he had quite achieved financial security, he injured his right arm during a trip to Sweden. It took several years to fully recover. Meanwhile, it required a great deal of effort to complete a canvas and he considered the possibility of having to give up painting. In 1863, pleased with one of his works, the Royal Academy granted him a travel allowance to study in Belgium, France and Italy.[7]

During a travel, his right thumb became inflamed and had to be amputated. He returned home and, following a long period of idleness, decided to give up art. The resulting depression led him to enter a mental hospital.[4] He made a recovery after three years, and once again took up painting. By 1880, he was a member of the Royal Academy's organization committee and had produced some of his best-known portraits. In 1897, he created an altar painting of Paul on the road to Damascus for St. Paul's Church, Aarhus. He died during 1912 in Copenhagen.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "H. Siegumfeldt". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "Siegumfeldt, Herman Carl". Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  3. ^ "H. Siegumfeldt, genealogy". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Biographical notes @ Kunstindeks Danmark.
  5. ^ "H. Siegumfeldt, education". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "Niels Simonsen". RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Sigurd Müller. "Siegumfeldt, Herman Carl, f. 1833, maler". Dansk biografisk Lexikon (in Danish). Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  8. ^ Jens Peter Munk. "H. Siegumfeldt, biography". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
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  Media related to Herman Siegumfeldt at Wikimedia Commons