Hans Dahl

Hans Dahl was a Norwegian painter who was best known for his paintings of Norwegian fjords and surrounding landscapes. He was born in the village of Granvin, on the Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway. His talent was already evident when Dahl was 16 years old. However, it was only after service in the army that Dahl received artistic education. He studied under Johan Fredrik Eckersberg and Knud Bergslien in Norway, and then under Hans Fredrik Gude and Wilhelm Riefstahl in Germany. He became associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting, which was characterized by finely detailed yet still fanciful landscapes. He had his first exhibition in Düsseldorf in 1876 and achieved widespread popularity and financial success. He moved to Berlin in 1888 and spent most of his time there until 1919, while visiting Norway every summer. He built his summer residence, Villa Strandheim, on the banks of the Sognefjord at Balestrand in 1893. He was patronized by the German emperor, Wilhelm II, who conferred a professorship upon him in 1910. He resisted the transition from romanticism to modernism in art and continued to paint cheerful and colorful scenes of Norwegian nature and people. He died in Balestrand in 1937 at the age of 88. He left behind many paintings that are still admired and collected today.