Peder Mønsted

Galerie Paffrath, Dusseldorf
Purchased from the above by the present owner

Woodland streams in verdant landscapes were arguably Mønsted’s most famous and signature subject, of which the present work is a fine example. The painting is executed in the artist's characteristic photo-realistic style, in which every leaf, blade of grass, and reflection in the water is observed with exacting verisimilitude. The view likely depicts the Jægersborg Dyrehave (deer park) just to the north of Copenhagen, famous for its ancient oak trees and red and fallow deer, designated a protected hunting ground by King Frederik III in 1669.

Mønsted was born at Balle Mølle near Grenå, in Jutland, the son of a prosperous ship-builder. After receiving painting lessons at the art school in Aarhus, from 1875 to 1879 he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts with Niels Simonsen and Julius Exner, and under Peder Severin Krøyer. While visiting Paris in 1883, he worked in the studio of William Bouguereau, under whose tutelage he further honed his rigorous academic style which he applied to landscape.