The Norwegian landscape and marine painter Peder Balke (1804–1887) merged the Romantic movement's spiritual vein of naturalism with an expressiveness rarely equalled by his contemporaries. Born in humble circumstances in what was then a northern hinterland, Balke trained as an artisan before pursuing his aim to become an artist in the broader European tradition, which led to formative contacts with Caspar David Friedrich and Johan Christian Dahl. From the 1840s onward, Balke searched for ever more personal means to convey the wild beauty of Norway, producing dramatic, even hallucinatory paintings that reject conventional fine-art techniques in favour of radical simplifications of form and colour. Balke seems to have ceased painting after the 1870s, and he was essentially forgotten until the 20th century. In recent years, however, he’s been rediscovered by artists, collectors, and scholars alike.
Born” Peter Andersen” on the island of Helgøya in Hedmark County, Norway. He grew up in Ringsaker, but lived in the 1820s on the Balke farm in Toten in Oppland County. Farmers in Toten paid for his education, and he decorated several farms in Toten in return. They actively encouraged his painting activities and later supported him in obtaining higher education.
In the autumn of 1827, Balke served as an apprentice to Heinrich August Grosch. He was also a student at the Tegneskole under Grosch and Jacob Munch, Balke signed a two-year contract as an apprentice to the Danish decorator and artist Jens Funch. From autumn 1829 to spring 1833, he was a pupil of Carl Joham Fahlcrantz at the art academy in Stocholm. Balke was also a pupil of Johan Christian Dahl from 1843 to 1844.
During the summer of 1830 he walked through Telemark, Rjukan, Vestfjorddalen through Røldal and Kinsarvik to the city of Bergen, and then back through Vossenvangen to Gudvangen, further over Filefjell to Valdres and then across the mountains to Hallingdal. Along the way, he painted and drew small sketches that were later developed into paintings. He also travelled to Germany, and Russia. He visited Paris and London.
In Stockholm, he completed several of the paintings he had outlined on his 1832 Finnamark tour. Some of these were sold to the royal family. In 1846 he sold thirty of his paintings to Louis Philippe I of France for the Versailles Palace. Besides the 17 paintings in the National Gallery in Oslo, Peder Balke is also represented at several major art collections in Norway and Sweden.
This is part 1 of 2-part post on the works of Peder Balke:
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| 1829c Christiania Viewed from Ekeberg |
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| 1836 The Waterfall at Rjukan oil on canvas |
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| 1840 Landscape with Mills and Rapids |
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| 1840-49 c North Cape oil on canvas 94 x 123 cm Private Collection |
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| 1840-49 Moonlit View of Trondheim oil on canvas 44 x 63 cm Private Collection |
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| 1840-49c A Distant View of Mount Stetind oil on board 10.3 x 12.8 cm Private Collection |
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| 1840-49c Ship in Breaking Waves oil on canvas 64.5 x 91 cm Bergen Kunstmuseum, Norway |
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| 1840-49c The North Cape oil on cardboard 67.5 x 84 cm Nasjonalmuseet for Kunst, Arkitektur og Design, Oslo, Norway |
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| 1840s The Jostedal Glacier oil on canvas 128 x 174 cm Göteborg Konstmuseum, Gothenburg, Norway |
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| 1842 Moonlight on the Coast at Steigen oil on canvas 24 x 32.2 cm Bergen Kunstmuseum, Norway |
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| 1843 Two Sailing Boats by Moonlight oil on canvas 8.5 x 13 cm |
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| 1844-46c The Harbour at Skjervøy oil on paper laid down on cardboard 12 x 17.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1845 The North Cape oil on canvas 95 x 132 cm Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum |
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| 1845-50c The Seven Sisters Mountain Range oil on panel 25 x 31 cm Private Collection |
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| 1845c The Mountain Range 'Trolltindene' oil on canvas 30.8 x 41.9 cm Private Collection |
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| before 1847 Kielhomet Mountain at Stegen oil on cardboard 28 x 37 cm Louvre, Paris |
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| 1847 The Seven Sisters oil on cardboard 28 x 37.6 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris |
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| 1847 View of Hjelmso oil on cardboard 27.5 x 37 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris |
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| 1847-49 Steigen oil on canvas 43 x 64.5 cm |
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| 1847-49c Old Trees oil on paper laid down on cardboard 14 x 18.2 cm Private Collection |
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| 1847-49c Steigen oil on paper laid down on cardboard 43 x 64.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1848 The North Cape by Moonlight oil on canvas 62 x 85 cm Private Collection, Oslo, Norway |
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| 1848 The North Cape by Moonlight oil on canvas |
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| 1849 Seascape oil on cardboard 35.4 x 44.8 cm Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden |
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| 1850-55c Stormy Sea with a Steamer in Distress oil on paper laid down on canvas 33.5 x 42.5 cm Private Collection, Norway |
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| 1850-59c Tree in a Wintery Forest oil on canvas 60 x 48 cm Private Collection |
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| 1850-59c Vardøhus Fortress oil on canvas 92 x 104 cm Bergen Kunstmuseum, Norway |
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| 1850c Moonlit View of Stockholm oil on canvas 67.3 x 100.3 cm |
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| 1850c Mount Stetind, Northern Norway oil on paper 10.1 x 12.7 cm |
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| 1850c Sami with Reindeer under the Midnight Sun oil on paper laid down on cardboard 18.5 x 26 cm © Northern Norway Art Museum, Tromsø |
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| 1852 Fredrikshald oil on panel 22 x 28.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1855c Lighthouse on the Norwegian Coast oil on canvas 95 x 125 cm Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Norway |
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| 1857-59 View of the Sarpsfoss Waterfalls, Norway oil on panel 21 x 28 cm Private Collection |
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| 1860-62c The Tempest oil on wood panel 12 x 16.5 cm |
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| 1860-69 Coastal Landscape with Wreck oil on copper 25 x 18 cm Nasjonalmuseet for Kunst, Arkitektur og Design, Oslo, Norway |
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| 1860-69 Lighthouse on the Coast oil on cardboard 26 x 36 cm Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø, Norway |