Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn

Vilhelm Kyhn was a self-taught Danish painter who specialized in landscapes. He was born in Copenhagen in 1819, where his father was a clerk in the Police Court. He ran away from home at the age of 14 and worked in a bakery. He later took a commercial exam in Aalborg and moved to Copenhagen, where he worked in various offices and took piano lessons. He showed an interest in painting from an early age and was sent to Paris to study under Gustave Courtois, Alfred Roll and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. He was influenced by the impressionist movement and the works of Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, and others. He returned to Denmark in 1882 and settled in Skagen, a fishing village on the northern tip of Denmark, where he became part of the artists' colony known as the Skagen Painters. He painted many scenes of the local life, the natural environment, and the artistic community, often using bright colors and loose brushstrokes. He also painted portraits of his friends and family, including his wife Marie Krøyer, whom he married in 1889. She was also a painter and a model for many of his works. Their marriage was unhappy, however, as Kyhn suffered from mental illness and Marie had an affair with the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. They divorced in 1905 and Kyhn died in 1903 from natural causes. He was buried in Assistens Cemetery, next to his fellow Skagen Painters. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Danish painters of his time and his works are exhibited in many museums and galleries in Denmark and abroad.