Løse landskabsstudier 1840

Dankvart Dreyer created this loose landscape study with pencil on paper. Although undated, we know this drawing was made in Denmark sometime before the artist’s early death in 1852. Dreyer was a landscape painter who was committed to representing the Danish countryside authentically, as opposed to more idealized and theatrical scenes. During the 19th century, artists like Dreyer turned to the local landscape to construct a unique vision of national identity, one rooted in the rural landscape and its people. What interests me most is the role that institutions like the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts played in shaping this national vision. Artists such as Dreyer were trained in a very specific aesthetic and approach to art making. By looking at archival material from the academy, we can understand how particular social and cultural values were promoted in the art world.