May 23, 2013 <Back to Index>
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Carl Heinrich Bloch (May 23, 1834 – February 22, 1890) was a Danish painter. He was born in Copenhagen and studied with Wilhelm Marstrand at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) there. Bloch's parents wanted their son to enter a respectable profession - an officer in the Navy. This, however, was not what Carl wanted. His only interest was drawing and painting, and he was consumed by the idea of becoming an artist. He went to Italy to study art, passing through the Netherlands, where he became acquainted with the work of Rembrandt, which became a major influence on him. Carl Bloch met his wife, Alma Trepka, in Rome, where he married her on May 31, 1868. They were married until her early death in January 1886. His
early work featured rural scenes from everyday life. From 1859 to 1866,
Bloch lived in Italy, and this period was important for the development of his historical style. His
first great success was the exhibition of his "Prometheus Unbound" in
Copenhagen in 1865. After the death of Marstrand, he finished the
decoration of the ceremonial hall at the University of Copenhagen.
The sorrow over losing his wife weighed heavily on Bloch, and being
left alone with their eight children after her death was very difficult
for him. In
a New Year's letter from 1866 to Bloch, H.C. Andersen wrote the
following: "What God has arched on solid rock will not be swept away!"
Another letter from Andersen declared "Through your art you add a new
step to your Jacob - ladder into immortality." In
a final ode, from a famous author to a famous artist, H.C. Andersen
said "Write on the canvas; write your seal on immortality. Then you
will become noble here on earth." He was then commissioned to produce 23 paintings for the Chapel at Frederiksborg Palace. These were all scenes from the life of Christ which
have become very popular as illustrations. The originals, painted
between 1865 and 1879, are still at Frederiksborg Palace. The
altarpieces can be found at Holbaek, Odense, Ugerloese and Copenhagen
in Denmark, as well as Loederup, Hoerup, and Landskrona in Sweden. Through
the assistance of Danish born artist Soren Edsberg, the acquisition of
"Christ healing at the pool of Bethesda," [formerly owned by Indre
Mission, Copenhagen, Denmark], was recently made possible for The
Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Carl
Bloch died of cancer on February 22, 1890. His death came as "an abrupt
blow for Nordic art" according to an article by Sophus Michaelis.
Michaelis stated that "Denmark has lost the artist that indisputably
was the greatest among the living." Kyhn stated in his eulogy at Carl
Bloch's funeral that "Bloch stays and lives." A
prominent Danish art critic, Karl Madsen, stated that Carl Bloch
reached higher toward the great heaven of art than all other Danish art
up to that date. Madsen also said "If there is an Elysium, where the
giant, rich, warm and noble artist souls meet, there Carl Bloch will
sit among the noblest of them all!".
For over 40 years The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has
made heavy use of Carl Bloch's paintings, mostly from the Frederiksborg
Palace collection, in its church buildings and printed media. The LDS
church has produced films depicting scriptural accounts of Christ's
mortal ministry, using Bloch's paintings as models for the colour,
light and overall set design as well as the movement of the actors in
many of the films' scenes. The most notable example of this is the movie The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd. |