Hans Gude
Hans Fredrik Gude (1825 to 1903) was a Norwegian landscape painter born in Christiania who died in Berlin. He is associated with the mountain landscapes of national romanticism, but coastlines, sailing ships and light on water also became important subjects.
Nature studies and studio work
After training at the Drawing School in Christiania, Gude went to Düsseldorf at sixteen. He later became professor of landscape painting there, followed by Karlsruhe and Berlin. During his stay in Wales from 1862 to 1864, encountering a different landscape sharpened his powers of observation. Nevertheless, he maintained that the finished painting should be developed in the studio. A nature study and a developed landscape composition therefore serve different purposes in the working process.
Mountains and national romanticism
The National Museum's Høyfjell from 1857 is oil on canvas, measuring 79.5 × 106.1 cm. Horizontal terrain lines create calm, while changing light connects rocks, the mountain lake and ranges. The museum documents a similar treatment from the previous year and an earlier watercolour. Identifying the version, rather than just the subject's title, is therefore necessary.
Brudeferd i Hardanger from 1848 was a collaboration with Adolph Tidemand. Gude painted the landscape, Tidemand the boat and people. The scenery combines observations from different places and should not be read as a topographical record of one viewpoint. The artists repeated the subject, which also circulated widely through reproductive prints.
Towards the coast and marine painting
Water, clouds and coastal settings became increasingly important. In Innseilingen til Christiania from 1874, Gude uses light on waves to guide the eye towards sailing ships. The National Museum's painting is oil on canvas, 98.3 × 140 cm. Several versions of the subject exist. Here, close observation of sea and atmosphere is integrated into a carefully ordered composition.
Original works, studies and reproductions
An oil painting, watercolour, drawn study and print after a Gude subject must be described as different objects. A painted copy is not automatically the artist's work. For collaborations, both artists and their roles should be identified where documented. A printed artist's signature may form part of the image without the sheet having been signed by hand.
When buying or selling, document technique, support, dimensions, inscriptions and ownership history. Paintings require examination for retouching, cracking, overpainting and any lining; paper also for fading, moisture damage and mounting. Old labels and receipts can provide clues, but resemblance in signature or subject cannot establish authorship on its own.
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
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Contact OBA about selling and assessment (Norwegian page).
Read our article about Adolph Tidemand.
