Ferdinand Richardt

The Danish-American painter and illustrator Ferdinand Richardt devoted a substantial part of his work to landscapes and architectural views. His journey from Denmark to the United States led him to depict sites on both sides of the Atlantic. From 1836, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Gustav Friederich Hetsch, J. L. Lund and Bertel Thorvaldsen. The Academy awarded him the small silver medal in 1839, followed by the large silver medal in 1840. In 1847, the Crown granted him support for five years in return for his annual donation to the royal collection of one architectural painting and one landscape painting.

He stayed in the United States from 1855 to 1859, maintained a studio in New York and travelled during the summers to Niagara Falls and other places east of the Mississippi. At William Vanderbilt’s invitation, he painted Niagara Falls; these views were then popular among the American aristocracy. In 1859, he presented a solo exhibition at the National Academy of Design. On his return to Denmark, he married Sophia Schneider, née Linnemann, in 1862. The couple travelled in southern Europe and then lived in England from 1863. In February 1864, Queen Victoria invited him to exhibit his works at court, at Windsor Castle. After returning to Europe, Richardt emigrated with his family to the United States in 1873. In 1872 and 1873, he sold many of the paintings and lithographs he had assembled.

The Richardt family settled in California, living in San Francisco in 1875 and then in Oakland in 1876. During the last twenty years of his life, he painted landscapes of the region, particularly San Francisco Bay and Yosemite, while continuing to paint views of Niagara. He exhibited and sold his works in San Francisco until 1887. His works are held, among other institutions, by the New-York Historical Society, the White House and the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. His work is the subject of the publication Danish Manorhouses and America: Landscape Art of Ferdinand Richardt (1819-1895), authored by Melinda Young Stuart and Niels Peter Stilling and published in 2003.

Works recorded at auction

Piguet

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Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

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huile sur toile

Catalogue period : 2021-06-09

Published result : 5200 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 2000–3000

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