How the first Norwegian impressionist single-handedly saved wooden churches: Johan Christian Dahl

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today, no one is surprised that every state seeks to preserve ancient architectural monuments - and it seems to us that people have always treated the historical past with the same care (with the exception, perhaps, of periods of revolutions). However, even a century and a half ago, the situation was different - the old buildings were considered crude and barbaric, were destroyed and were in desolation. But there were people who changed everything …

Surprisingly, even in Norway, known for its respect for the national culture and the same deep respect for other people's traditions, up to the middle of the 19th century, ancient buildings were under threat of disappearance. Now the Norwegian Stave Church, medieval timber frame churches, have become a kind of brand, living witnesses to the country's long and complex history, its architectural face. And one person contributed to this radical change in the perception of stavrok - the artist Johan Dahl.

The name of the Norwegian romantic artist Johan Christian Klausen Dahl is almost unknown in Russia, and this, in general, is not surprising - his works were important mainly for the development of local art. Being far from the cultural centers of Europe, Norway was rather slow in accepting newfangled trends, however, Italian academic art remained the standard there as well. Johan Dahl was the first to urge compatriots to look at the beauty of their native country.

He was born and raised in the family of a poor fisherman and later spoke with bitterness about his childhood. He was promised a career as a priest, but his true passion was painting. Dalia was peculiarly lucky to have teachers - one used him as a free labor force to paint the scenery, the second was literally obsessed with national history. But in the end, the impoverished village childhood and endless painting of landscape backdrops turned the young lover of painting into a strong landscape painter. Dahl believed that landscape painting should not only depict a specific view, but also say something about the nature and character of the earth - the greatness of its past, the life of its current inhabitants.

Oddly enough, artistic circles and patrons of art … did not understand him. In the art of those years, preference was given to historical paintings with a moral message. Landscapes were considered the lowest form of art, a mechanical imitation of nature. The only landscapes that could be considered art, according to the academy, were ideal, imaginary landscapes of a pastoral or heroic spirit - strongly Italian. Dahl tried to play by the rules. After all, he, like all artists of his generation, received a classical art education - at the Academy of Arts in Copenhagen, then taught in a drawing class …

Having received a scholarship from the state, he went to Germany, where he became close friends with the romantic artist Kaspar David Friedrich. In his face, the young Norwegian artist finally found a true like-minded person. Frederick painted harsh German landscapes, chalk cliffs, the ruins of old Gothic churches, openly disdaining the idyllic foreign views that other artists stamped in huge numbers. Together they actually stood at the head of the German romantic school of painting.

Dahl achieved a lot in Germany, here he was accepted and appreciated, here he worked and taught, but his heart was eager to return to his homeland. In his works of the German period, more and more often there appear not real views, but ghostly memories of the beauty of his native country. In Germany, he became very interested in the culture of the Middle Ages. And he also got married - the chosen one was named Emily von Block. Soon after the wedding, Dahl nevertheless visited Italy - and this trip turned out to be unexpectedly useful, since he devoted all his time not to ideal landscapes, but to real wildlife …

Dahl's family happiness did not last long. Emily died in childbirth. Almost at the same time, two of their children - only the Dal couple had four heirs - died of scarlet fever. Dahl did not remain alone for long - three years later he started an affair with his student Amalia von Bassewitz. Almost the same name - and fate. In December of the same year, she died - also during childbirth. The child apparently did not survive. The artist was heartbroken. For a long time after, he did not touch brushes and paints, and when he began to paint again, the snow on his canvases became a symbol of death.

But there was still much left. Work - Dahl managed to convince academia of the value of landscape studies, becoming the first to bring German students to the open air. He warned them against imitation, did not seek to create a "school" around him, advocated the development of a creative individuality.

His homeland also remained - he returned there three more times, and over time in Norway his artistic influence became undeniable. He taught his compatriots to be attentive to their native nature, he showed them millions of shades of snow and clouds. Art critics believe that Dahl stepped further, overcoming not only dry academicism, but also gloomy national romanticism - he, with its clouds of smoke, fogs and snow-covered slopes, is called, along with William Turner, the forerunner of impressionism.

And also his thoughts were possessed by … the Middle Ages. During his penultimate trip to Norway, in 1844, Johan Dahl, fascinated by national history from childhood, founded the Society for the Conservation of Ancient Monuments of Norway. It was engaged in the search, research and restoration of Norwegian cultural monuments. The easiest way was to just … buy these buildings. Throughout its existence, the organization has acquired nine medieval wooden churches and many other attractions. It was this organization that attracted the attention of society and the government to the preservation of the country's cultural heritage.

Johan Dahl died in Dresden, where he lived, in fact, most of his life. However, in the 1930s, his remains were reburied in Bergen, Norway. In a country where he had been striving to return all his life, in a country that never left his heart …