Peder Balke Norwegian, 1804-1887

Initially trained as a craftsman and decorative painter, and subsequently a student of Dahl (see lot 152), Balke recorded nature with an eye for the dramatic and a technical facility that was deeply idiosyncratic.

The main source of Balke's inspiration was a trip he made to northernmost Norway in the early 1830s. The originality of his subsequent work appealed to a wide audience, including King Charles XV of Sweden and King Louis-Philippe of France. The latter commissioned a large series of paintings from Balke. Sadly never carried out, the sketches that Balke submitted for Louis-Philippe's consideration are now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.