Christian Mølsted: 'Tordenskjold's Landing in Marstrand on July 24, 1719'

Automatic translation from Danish.

Christian Mølsted (1862-1930). 'Tordenskjold's Landing in Marstrand on 24 July 1719'. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated: 'Chr. Mölsted 1921'. 117 x 158 (148 x 190 cm.)

Literature: Rikard Magnussen. 'Chr. Mølsted'. Levin & Munkgaards Forlag 1935. Pages 68-70.

Christian Mølsted is, together with artists such as C. W. Eckersberg and Anton Melbye, known as one of Denmark's greatest marine painters. From an early age, Mølsted showed an interest in marine painting, and he started in 1880 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen with professors Carl Bloch and Frederik Vermehren as his primary teachers. Mølsted completed his education at the Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1885, after which he painted with great success for both private collectors and public institutions, including the Frederiksborg Museum in Hillerød.
In several series of paintings, Mølsted combined his talent for maritime depictions with his great interest in older Danish history. It was particularly the great naval battles of Danish history that interested Mølsted - not least from the Great Northern War and the Napoleonic Wars.
The present painting dramatically depicts Tordenskjold's landing in the fortress town of Marstrand on July 24, 1719, with Tordenskjold himself at the front - an event that seriously cemented Tordenskjold's reputation as both a strategist and a naval hero. Prior to completing the work, Mølsted made a number of sketches and detailed studies - including a small picture that today belongs to Museum Amager and currently hangs in Mølsted's old studio in Dragør.