A Norwegian Visionary for the Getty
Peder Balke, North Cape , about 1850. Getty Museum The Getty Museum has purchased a night seascape by Norwegian Romantic painter Peder Balke (1804–1887). Sometimes known as the "Norwegian Turner," Peder was pupil of Johan Christian Dahl and met Caspar David Friedrich. By 1846 his international reputation was such that French king Louis Philippe I bought 30 of his paintings for the Palace of Versailles. By the mid 1850s however Balke abandoned the art market for socialism. He developed Balkeby, a utopian suburb for working people outside of Oslo. Balke continued to paint but not for the market. Many of the late paintings are experimental, small, and monochrome, drawing comparisons to Victor Hugo's visual art. Balke was largely forgotten until shows at the National Gallery (2014) and Metropolitan Museum (2019). The Getty picture shows North Cape, one of the northernmost points in Europe and now a tourist attraction accessible by car. Balke visited it under more difficult c...
