Peder Balke

Peder Balke was a Norwegian painter who is known for portraying the landscape of Norway in a romantic and dramatic manner. He was also active in the field of social justice. He was born on the island of Helgøya, in Hedmark county, Norway, in 1804. He showed early promise as an artist and received support from local patrons and artisans. He studied under several masters in Norway and Sweden, and visited Germany, Russia, France, and England. He painted many scenes from his travels, especially from the far north of Norway. He sold some of his paintings to the royal families of Norway and France, but he did not achieve much commercial success. He gave up painting professionally in the 1860s and painted small scenes for his own pleasure. He also organized the construction of Balkeby, a new suburb of Oslo, with improved living conditions for workers. He died in Oslo in 1887, at the age of 82. He was forgotten for a century, but he is now recognized as an important Scandinavian painter and a pioneer of modernism.